An investigation of the scientists from University of Geneva Hospitals found that physicians’ stethoscopes where much more contaminated than their hands, following a single physical examination.
In this study, 71 patients were examined by one of three physicians using sterile gloves and a sterile stethoscope. After they completed the examination, two parts of the stethoscope (the tube and diaphragm) and four regions of the physician’s hands (back, fingertips, and thenar and hypothenar eminences) were measured for the total number of bacteria present.
The stethoscope’s diaphragm was more contaminated than all regions of the physician’s hand except the fingertips. Further, the tube of the stethoscope was more heavily contaminated than the back of the physician’s hand. Similar results were observed when contamination was due to methicillin-resistant S.aureus (MRSA) after examining MRSA-colonized patients.
“By considering that stethoscopes are used repeatedly over the course of a day, come directly into contact with patients’ skin, and may harbor several thousands of bacteria (including MRSA) collected during a previous physical examination, we consider them as potentially significant vectors of transmission,” says lead investigator Didier Pittet, MD, MS, director of the Infection Control Program and WHO Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals. “From infection control and patient safety perspectives, the stethoscope should be regarded as an extension of the physician’s hands and be disinfected after every patient contact.”