The Impact of Environmental Contamination and Carriage of Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococci by Patients on the Hand Hygiene of Healthcare Workers
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRS) pose a great health threat to hospital-associated infections. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are known as sources, vectors and victims for MRS. AIM: This study aimed to identify non-hand hygiene factors associated with the higher prevalence of MRS colonisation among ICU HCWs compared to those in non-ICU settings. STUDY DESIGN: Samples were collected from HCWs, patients and environment sites of a community hospital in Tianjin. 16s rRNA sequencing was used to identify the species of bacteria, and the disc diffusion method was used to explore the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of staphylococci. The mecA gene and SCCmec types were determined by PCR. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty staphylococcal isolates were recovered and 186 isolates were identified as MRS. The prevalence of MRS carriage among HCWs, patients, and environmental dissemination in the ICU was significantly elevated compared to that in the non-ICU setting (p<0.05). Moreover, HCWs of the ICU had a higher hand hygiene compliance (p<0.05) and rates of correct answers in comparison with non-ICU HCW regarding the hand hygiene knowledge (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the MRS carriage among HCWs in the ICU was significantly higher than that of HCWs in the non-ICU in the same hospital who followed the same hand hygiene rules. The high-level MRS colonisation among patients and the transmission of MRS in the environment may be risk factors for the higher carriage level of MRS in HCWs. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Clinicians should consider eradicating the environmental contamination of MRS and decolonisation of MRS in patients.
Source: Nursing in Critical Care
DOI: 10.1111/nicc.70284
Institution: Tianjin Medical University
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7119497168