Original Articles

Investigating the Microbial Contamination of the Hands of Healthcare Staff and Medical Equipment in Different Wards of Hospital in Zahedan, Southeastern Iran

Abstract

Background: Nosocomial infections are one of the serious problems in medical centres that can lead to the death of patients. Contamination of medical devices and surgical equipment is known as one of the main causes of the spread of these infections.

Methods: In this study, 442 medical and non-medical devices of Ali Ebne Abi Taleb Hospital in Zahedan) medical and non-medical devices that have more contact with the patient (were collected over two years and every month according to the schedule

Results: The most contamination was related to the hands and nails of the personnel, where 26 cases were positive with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. Then, suction with Pseudomonas aeruginosa contamination was positive in 15 cases, followed by stethoscope and sialic lamp in the operating room, each of which were positive in 11 cases.

Staphylococcus was the most common organism in all departments and was isolated mostly from patients' beds, staff's hands and nails, and stethoscopes.

Conclusion: To reduce the level of contamination and prevent the spread of hospital infections, it is necessary to observe hygiene principles such as hand washing, regular disinfection of equipment, and use of standard guidelines to prevent infections.

1. Schabrun S, Chipchase L. Healthcare equipment as a source of nosocomial infection: a systematic review. J of Hospital Infection 2006; 63(3):239-45.
2. Jahantigh M, Tahmasbi H, Bokaeiyan M. Antibiotic resistance pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from burn patients. Med J of Mashhad university of Med Sciences 2019; 62(5):1121-31.
3. Joshi M, Kaur S, Kaur HP, et al. Nosocomial infection: source and prevention. Int J Pharm Sci Res 2019; 10(4):1613-24.
4. Ndu IK, Chinawa JM, Emeka CK, et al. Bacterial contamination of medical equipment and surfaces in the main operating theater of enugu state university teaching hospital. Int J of Med and Health Developmen 2022; 27(2):164-8.
5. Boyce JM. Modern technologies for improving cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces in hospitals. AMR & Inf Control 2016; 5:1-10.
6. Stamm WE. Infections related to medical devices. Annals Int Med 1978; 89(5):764-9.
7. Jahantigh M, Bameri Z. Determining the antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from patients hospitalized in Zahedan, Southeastern Iran. J Adv Med Biomed Res 2024; 32(151):127-34.
8. Ayatollahi AA, Amini A, Rahimi S, et al. Prevalence of gram-negative bacilli isolated from the equipment and surfaces in hospital wards of Golestan Province, north of Iran. Euro J Microbiol Immunol 2017; 7(4):261-6.
9. Birru M, Mengistu M, Siraj M, et al. Magnitude, diversity, and antibiograms of bacteria isolated from patient-care equipment and inanimate objects of selected wards in arba minch general hospital, southern Ethiopia. Res Rep Trop Med 2021; 12(3):39-49.
10. Ssekitoleko RT, Oshabaheebwa S, Munabi IG, et al. The role of medical equipment in the spread of nosocomial infections: a cross-sectional study in four tertiary public health facilities in Uganda. BMC Public Health 2020; 20:1-11.
11. Gammon J, Hunt J. COVID-19 and hand hygiene: the vital importance of hand drying. British Journal of Nursing 2020; 29(17):1003-6.
12. Ahmadi N, Salimizand H, Zomorodi AR, et al. Genomic diversity of β-lactamase producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Iran; the impact of global high-risk clones. Annals Clin Microbiol Antimicrob 2024; 23(1):5.
13. Ekrami A, Kayedani A, Jahangir M, et al. Isolation of common aerobic bacterial pathogens from the environment of seven hospitals, Ahvaz, Iran. Jundishapur J Microbiol 2011; 4(2):75-82.
14. Baban ST, Saeed PAH, Jalal DM. Microbial contamination of operating theatres and intensive care units at a surgical specialty hospital in Erbil City. Med J Babylon 2019; 16(2):150-5.
15. Belay MM, Ambelu A, Mekonen S, et al. Investigating microbial contamination of indoor air, environmental surfaces, and medical equipment in a Southwestern Ethiopia Hospital. Env Health Insight 2024; 18:11786302241266052.
16. Akbari R, Bafghi MF, Fazeli H. Nosocomial infections pathogens isolated from hospital personnel, hospital environment and devices. J Med Bacteriol 2018; 7(1-2):22-30.
17. Song X, Vossebein L, Zille A. Efficacy of disinfectant-impregnated wipes used for surface disinfection in hospitals: a review. Antimicrob Res Infect Con 2019; 8:1-14.
18. Goodman ER, Piatt R, Bass R, et al. Impact of an environmental cleaning intervention on the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci on surfaces in intensive care unit rooms. Inf Cont & HE.2008; 29(7):593-9.
Files
IssueVol 13 No 2 (2025) QRcode
SectionOriginal Articles
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/jmb.v13i2.18659
Keywords
Medical equipment Microbial contamination Pseudomonas aeruginosa Staphylococcus Zahedan.
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Mohammadi L, Jahantigh M, Azhdarimoghaddam A, Jahantigh M. Investigating the Microbial Contamination of the Hands of Healthcare Staff and Medical Equipment in Different Wards of Hospital in Zahedan, Southeastern Iran. J Med Bacteriol. 2025;13(2):72-78.