The influence of the surgical scrub on hand bacterial flora

The skin bacterial flora of subjects who scrub their hands routinely was compared to subjects who usually do not scrub their hands, to determine the influence of the surgical scrub on the skin bacterial population. Aerobic, anaerobic and yeast cultures of 15 surgical residents and 15 internal medicine residents were obtained. The skin bacterial population of 15 medical students rotating through surgery was also determined to assess the influence of hand contact with infected wounds on the bacterial flora. The medical students had been in contact with infected wounds as had the surgical residents, but they had not been scrubbing their hands. The internal medicine residents had not been in contact with infected wounds or scrubbing their hands. The number of bacteria cultured from the medical students was superior to the bacterial count obtained from internal medicine residents, but inferior to the number of microorganisms isolated from surgical residents (p less than 0.01). Pathogenic bacteria were isolated from cultures of eight surgical residents, five medical students and one internal medicine resident. Yeast was cultured from one surgical resident's hand. This study indicates that both the frequent contact with infected wounds and the routine use of the ten minute surgical scrub may modify the bacterial flora of the hand. The alterations observed in the two situations were an increased number of both pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria.