Stethoscope sheath stops staph
07/01/2002
PLYMOUTH, CT- A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Tucson, AZ) revealed that 80 percent of health professionals' stethoscopes were contaminated with bacteria, especially methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the kind most resistant to today's antibiotics.
 A recent study indicates that 80 percent of the stethoscopes used by health professionals are contaminated with bacteria. |
To combat contamination, the Doctors Research Group (DRG) developed SafeSEAL, a disposable soft diaphragm that kills harmful bacteria that can contaminate traditional hard stethoscope diaphragms. In fact, DRG claims that SafeSEAL reduces infectious microbes on the stethoscope diaphragm specifically killing 99.9% of MRSA's for up to two weeks.
Contaminated stethoscopes are implicated as one important source of nosocomial infections, or infections contracted after 48 hours in the hospital. Annually, nosocomial infections strike two million people-10 percent of the patient population, according to the Archives of Internal Medicine. The Institute of Medicine reports that preventable adverse patient events, including hospital-acquired infections, are responsible for 44,000-98,000 deaths annually. DRG anticipates the product could help reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections.
"Previous research has shown that stethoscopes are a vector of transmission of germs from one patient to another," says Dr. William Bozeman, of Shands Hospital (Jacksonville, FL).
Unlike hand washing, disinfecting stethoscopes with alcohol swabs after each use is not an established practice. In fact, fewer than half of healthcare providers clean their stethoscopes daily or weekly, and seven percent never clean them at all, according to a study reported in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
According to the company, SafeSEAL diaphragms inoculated at Day 0 and Day 14 with MRSA and sampled after 24 hours showed a 4.6 log reduction (99.9%) in bacteria count. Antimicrobial compound was tested at one percent concentration. Standard precautions should be followed, including cleaning of the diaphragms between uses.
"The stethoscope is the worlds most popular medical instrument," says Dr. Richard Deslauriers, chief executive officer of DRG, a medical device and diagnostic manufacturer. "The scary reality is medical professionals could possibly use it on a patient with pneumonia, or a bloody trauma and then on you or your child. SafeSEAL is a soft diaphragm that fits snuggly over the stethoscope. It is impregnated with an antimicrobial compound, which prevents the growth and migration of bacteria, yeast, mold and fungus."
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