STETHOSCOPES CAN SPREAD ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT SUPERBUGS

Prof Dr,DRAM,HIV /AIDS,HEPATITIS ,SEX DISEASES & WEAKNESS expert,New Delhi,India, +917838059592

Almost all over World,doctors use reusable Stethoscope to examine the patient,most Physicians hung it over their shoulder or around  neck or keep it in a large pocket of their white Apron.Whether in opd or ipd or in ICU or OT,Ambulance and Medical camps ,they are not only used by treating physicians of different specialities but medical Students, Nurses and technicians too use it .it is the ,most important and the used instrument in Medical World and often considered the Symbol of Doctors as public recognise some one as Doctor if stethoscopes is present with him /her even if Apron or hospital are absent .

            But hardly we have encountered any Doctor who disinfect it by standard method of sterilisation as using gas or formalin or chlorine chamber,most doctors cleans it if any dust with a clean cloth or paper or hardly with spirit cotton swabs.As a rsult,few reasearch have shown that Stethoscope is most important carrier of many antibiotics resistant superbugs from outside to patient and patients to patients.

           Potential pathogens cultured from stethoscopes include Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium difficile, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci -- reponsible for diseases such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and skin infections, which can also be life threatening, the researchers said."Stethoscopes are used repeatedly throughout the day and become contaminated after each patient exposure, so they must be treated as potential vectors of transmission," said Linda Greene, President at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) in Virginia, US. 

"Failing to disinfect stethoscopes could constitute a serious patient safety issue similar to ignoring hand hygiene," Greene added.In the study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, the researchers observed stethoscope hygiene at the start of a four-week rotation for medical students, resident physicians, and attending physicians at a tertiary care academic teaching hospital. 

The results showed zero occurrences of stethoscope sanitation among the staff."Stethoscope hygiene implementation will need more consistent efforts to change culture and habits. We believe that stethoscope hygiene should be included in all hospital hand hygiene initiatives along with increased accountability."