Survey of Staphylococcus epidermidis Contamination on the Hands of Dental Hygienists and Equipment Surface of Dental Clinics / 치위생과학회지

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate Staphylococcus epidermidis contamination on hands of 20 dental hygienists and 140 equipment surface of 20 dental clinics in a local area, from July to August 2017. The degree of S. epidermidis contamination was measured using a hand plate and a rodac plate and then cultured at 35℃ for 24 hours. Based on hand plate criteria, hand contamination was classified into low, middle, and high groups. Analysis of the variance (ANOVA) of the contamination level of the hand parts of the group surface contamination level of the dental clinic equipment was descriptive statistics after clustering lock count. S. epidermidis contamination was moderate in 55% of the hands of dental hygienists. The area of contamination was 29.45 colony-forming units (CFU) on the palm, followed by the middle finger 7.8 CFU, ring finger 6.4 CFU, and thumb 6 CFU. Medical equipment surface contamination was showed that 3-way handle 4.45 CFU, computer mouse 3.37 CFU, mirror handle 1.60 CFU were higher than other areas. The group with high hand contamination had a high positive correlation with the S. epidermidis contamination of the hand. S. epidermidis contamination level was higher on hands than on the medical equipment surface contamination. Therefore, medical staff should recognize the importance of hand hygiene which should be practiced in the manner suggested by World Health Organization. In addition, the medical team needs to be responsible for performing infection control tasks, implementing infection management guidelines and providing systematic education on infectious disease management.