Author :
Lavanya Jagdish, Mita D Wadekar, Manoj Jais, Ravi Kumar Gupta
Volume :
3
Issue :
1
Abstract :
Background: The increase in number of healthcare associated infections has resulted in huge burden on medical care in the form of morbidity, mortality, and cost. In the current era of high pathogen loads and antimicrobial resistance, items used in patient care such as cotton gowns, are becoming source of cross transmission of infections. In this study, comparative microbial load of cotton gown was made with that of newly introduced disposable plastic gowns.
Methods: A total of 100 samples from cuffs and pockets of cotton gowns; and 100 samples from abdominal area of plastic gowns were taken from doctors and nurses working in a pediatric ICU and nursery. Samples were processed as per standard microbiological procedures for microbial growth followed by antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Results were compared using paired T test and chi square test.
Results: 50% of cotton gown samples and 20% of plastic gown samples showed statistically significant microbial growth (