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Bacterial contamination of children's toys used in a general practitioner's surgery
1Rose Garden Medical Centre, Edinburgh.
Insights
Providing toys in general practices can improve child-friendliness, but poses a cross-infection risk. Hard-surface toys are recommended over soft ones due to lower bacterial contamination and easier disinfection.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Infection Control
- General Practice
Background:
- Healthcare settings aim to be child-friendly.
- Toys are often provided for children in waiting rooms.
- Assessing toy hygiene is crucial for patient safety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the bacterial contamination of toys in a general practice waiting room.
- To compare contamination levels between different toy types.
- To inform recommendations for toy selection and maintenance.
Main Methods:
- Examined 50 toys from an inner-city general practice waiting room.
- Assessed toys for visible cleanliness and bacterial colonization.
- Compared bacterial presence on soft versus hard-surfaced toys.
Main Results:
- Toys appeared unclean after use.
- 10% of toys were contaminated with potential pathogens.
- Soft toys showed higher bacterial culture rates than hard toys (OR 8.14).
Conclusions:
- While most bacteria are non-pathogenic, a 10% risk of cross-infection exists.
- Hard-surface toys are preferable due to lower contamination and easier disinfection.
- Recommendations for toy hygiene in clinical settings are warranted.
Abstract:
General practitioners--and other healthcare professionals are encouraged to make their premises child friendly. One way of doing this is to provide toys for children to use. We looked at the appearance and bacterial colonisation of 50 toys after a busy morning surgery in an inner city general practice. The toys appeared generally unclean and 10% were contaminated by potential pathogens. Bacteria were cultured more frequently from soft toys than from hard toys (odds ratio 8.14; 95% confidence range 0.74-107.49). Although toys may appear to be physically dirty after use, the bacteria isolated from their surfaces are generally non-pathogenic to children with normal immune function and probably no worse than other objects in the environment. However, there does exist an appreciable (1 in 10) risk of cross-infection with the use of toys in a clinic. Toys with a hard surface are preferred as these are less likely to be contaminated and are more easily disinfected.