Microbial Contamination Characteristics on Touch Surfaces in Outpatient Self-Service Facilities

With the development of science and technology, self-service facilities have been widely used in hospitals. This study aimed to assess the microbial contamination characteristics on touch surfaces in outpatient, self-service facilities from Monday to Friday.

Touch surfaces in outpatient facilities were swabbed and surveyed for total microbial growth before and after work every morning. Selected bacteria were identified to screen for pathogenic organisms.

There were 360 samples collected, 87 samples (24.2%) were culture-positive. Staphylococcus species were the main microbial contamination. The three most common bacteria were S. hominis, S. epidermidis and S. hemolyticus. After work, more microbial contamination was found on Monday (p = 0.029). There was no difference in sample positive rates between self-service facilities and manual service area. Although, the antibiotic resistance patterns of different staphylococcus species were different, the overall drug resistance rate is low. Only one S. aureus was methicillin-Sensitive S. aureus.

The self-service facilities' touch surfaces microbial contamination were similar to manual service area, but the more used, the more microbial contamination was found. Hospitals should enhance cleaning times of self-service facilities to keep them clean, especially on Mondays.