Bacterial Count Comparisons on Examination Gloves from Freshly Opened Boxes Versus Nearly Empty Boxes and From Examination Gloves Before Treatment Versus After Dental Dam Isolation

Bacterial contamination of unused, disposable non-sterile gloves on a hospital orthopaedic ward

“…6 Previous investigations in intensive care and dental settings have identified pathogens on non-sterile disposable gloves (NSDG) before use, however whether pathogens exist on NSDG in the context of a large hospital ward remains unexplored. 7,8 The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of unused NSDG to act as vehicles for microbial transmission in a hospital ward setting. We hypothesised HCW hands could transmit NI pathogens to surrounding unused NSDG in in-use boxes.…”

Design of a new non-sterile glove-dispensing unit to reduce touch-based

“…This should reduce overall pathogen levels that may be present on the gloves. 5 The first drawer-pull design that was produced was a horizontal access drawer at the base of the box, with the same puck-scaffold design. This yielded one glove at each dispense, but often jammed due to gloves falling into the drawer before the drawer could be closed.…”

Microbial contamination of procedure gloves after opening the container and during exposure in the environment

“…One possible explanation for this fact would be the external contamination of the box when removing the first pair of gloves; the worker could touch the box surface and contaminate the gloves. Other explanations would be that contamination of these gloves occurred during manufacture process (14) , low adherence to hand hygiene or, still, environmental contamination, since the gloves are exposed to the surrounding air after the opening in mean 6.3 hours.…”

“…Studies (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(14)(15)18) have shown that researchers correlate latex procedure gloves with sterile gloves in cases of infection, and there appears to be no correlation as long as manufacturing, maintenance, and use policies are preserved. Although procedure gloves host bacteria, it appears they are not sufficient to trigger infection when used in the various health care procedures.…”