Transfer efficiency of Staphylococcus aureus between nitrile exam gloves and nonporous fomites

This report describes fomite transmission of Staphylococcus aureus amongst various surfaces. A contact transfer protocol was completed to evaluate the movement of S aureus between a person wearing nitrile gloves and either: handshaking with another person with gloved hands, touching a plastic cellular telephone back, or touching a stainless steel rod. The data in this preliminary study imply that the highest bacterial transfer is with metal surfaces followed by plastic. Interestingly, glove-to-glove transfer occurred but transfered less bacteria than a plastic or metal surface. The observations from this study point to the need to clearly define hygiene behaviors to reduce the potential of hand- and surface-mediated transmission.