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British Journal of Infection Control
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Blood pressure cuffs as a potential fomite for transmission of pathogenic micro- organisms: A prospective study in a university teaching hospital

J. Baruah

Department of Medical Microbiology, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Joy.Baruah{at}hey.nhs.uk

S. Kumar

Department of Medical Microbiology, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

A. Gratrix

Department of Medical Microbiology, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

W. Dibb

Department of Medical Microbiology, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

M. Madeo

Department of Medical Microbiology, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Objective: To investigate the contamination of blood pressure cuffs on medical, surgical, paediatric and intensive care areas in a university teaching hospital.

Design: A comprehensive, prospective study quantitatively and qualitatively evaluating the bacterial contamination on blood pressure cuffs of 100 sphygmomanometers in use in ten hospital units from June through to July 2007.

Setting: A university teaching hospital with medical, surgical, paediatric and intensive care units.

Results: The inner sides of the cuffs were found to harbour more organisms (97%) compared to the outer surface (89%). The inside also had a much higher level of contamination, 29% having >100 colony forming units (cfu) compared to only 8% with >100cfu on the outer surface. On average most cuffs were found to have organisms in the 10—100 cfu range. The most heavily contaminated cuffs (>100cfu) were found on the general intensive care unit. Coagulase negative Staphylococcus was the most commonly isolated organism, found in 67% of samples.

Key Words: BP cuffs • contamination • health care associated infections

British Journal of Infection Control, Vol. 9, No. 4, 19-21 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1469044608091150
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