Aims: To determine the transfer efficiency of micro-organisms from fomites to hands and the subsequent transfer from the fingertip to the lip. Methods and Results: Volunteers hands were sampled after the normal usage of fomites seeded with a pooled culture of a Gram-positive bacterium (Micrococcus luteus), a Gramnegative bacterium (Serratia rubidea) and phage PRD-1 (Period A). Activities included wringing out a dishcloth ⁄ sponge, turning on ⁄ off a kitchen faucet, cutting up a carrot, making hamburger patties, holding a phone receiver, and removing laundry from the washing machine. Transfer efficiencies were 38AE47% to 65AE80% and 27AE59% to 40AE03% for the phone receiver and faucet, respectively. Transfer efficiencies from porous fomites were <0AE01%. In most cases, M. luteus was transferred most efficiently, followed by phage PRD-1 and S. rubidea. When the volunteers' fingertips were inoculated with the pooled organisms and held to the lip area (Period B), transfer rates of 40AE99%, 33AE97%, and 33AE90% occurred with M. luteus, S. rubidea, and PRD-1, respectively.

P . R US I N, P. O RO SZ -CO UG H LI N A N D C . G E RB A. 1998. Fourteen sites evenly divided between the household kitchen and bathroom were monitored on a weekly basis for numbers of faecal coliforms, total coliforms and heterotrophic plate count bacteria. The first 10 weeks comprised the control period, hypochlorite cleaning products were introduced into the household during the second 10 weeks, and a strict cleaning regimen using hypochlorite products was implemented during the last 10 weeks. The kitchen was more heavily contaminated than the bathroom, with the toilet seat being the least contaminated site. The highest concentrations of all three classes of bacteria were found on sites that were moist environments and/or were frequently touched; these included the sponge/dishcloth, the kitchen sink drain area, the bath sink drain area, and the kitchen faucet handle(s). The implementation of a cleaning regimen with common household hypochlorite products resulted in the significant reduction of all three classes of bacteria at these four sites and other household sites.

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