Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Sep 2001
Contamination of gowns, gloves, and stethoscopes with vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
[corrected] To measure directly the rate of contamination, during routine patient examination, of gowns, gloves, and stethoscopes with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). ⋯ Our study revealed a high rate of examiner contamination with VRE. The similar risk of contamination identified by surveillance and clinical cases reinforces concerns that patients not known to be colonized with VRE could serve as sources for dissemination. Wiping with alcohol is effective in decontaminating stethoscopes.