Stethoscopes, a primary tool of physicians, may be more contaminated with bacteria than physicians' hands, according to a recent study HealthDay reported.
Researchers found that the diaphragm of a stethoscope - the round piece placed against a patient's body - can become filthy with, and spread, antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as potentially deadly MRSA. The object will pick up more bacteria during a patient examination than any part of the doctor's hand except the fingertips, Healthday Reported.
"While the doctor's hands are cleaned after each patient, their stethoscope is not, so then they apply the stethoscope to the second patient, and the third, carrying bacteria from each patient's skin," Didier Pittet, lead author on the study and director of the Infection Control Program at University of Geneva Hospital, told USA Today.
For the study Pittet and his colleagues examined 71 patients using sterile gloves and a sterile stethoscope. After their examinations were completed, researchers measured the bacteria on the tube and diaphragm of the stethoscope. They also tested the fingertips, ball of the thumb, palm and back of the physicians' hands for bacteria.
They found that the stethoscope and the fingertips tended to be more contaminated than all other parts of the physicians' hands, both with bacteria in general and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) specifically. They found that the stethoscope's diaphragm - the part that is held against a patient's body - was more contaminated than all regions of the physician's hands, excluding the fingertips.
"Germs are acquired from the patient's skin in contact with the stethoscope, the same way hands usually get colonized with the patient's germs," Pittet said.
He added that while the stethoscope cannot be blamed for causing infection to spread, it is most likely playing some role in transmitting bacteria.
"It's clear cleaning hands with alcohol-based gel is most important to prevent cross contamination with bacteria," Pittet said. "But if your hands are clean and your stethoscope is not, it's counterproductive."
