Why, when and how to clean stethoscopes

Leprat, R; Minary, P; Devaux, V.; Wazière, B. de; Dupond, J.L.; Talon, D.

doi:10.1016/s0195-6701(98)90250-x

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In addition to harbouring the only Staphylococcus aureus isolates, junior doctors' stethoscopes were the most heavily contaminated. Other studies have found similar results (Leprat et al, 1998;O'Malley and Lok, 2003), and in one report statistically fewer contaminated stethoscopes were detected from designated single room use compared with those belonging to physicians. This gives support to the proposal of individual stethoscopes being restricted for use in specific clinical areas (Smith et al, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Stethoscopes: a study of contamination and the effectiveness of disinfection procedures

Waghorn

Wan

Greaves

et al. 2005

British Journal of Infection Control

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tethoscopes are universally used by healthcare professionals. They can come into contact with numerous patients and may harbour organisms that can be transferred between individuals. Wycombe hospital has a policy that stethoscopes should be disinfected with a 70% isopropyl alcohol swab after each patient use. A study was undertaken to assess the degree of stethoscope contamination and the effectiveness of the disinfection procedure. A randomly chosen group of healthcare professionals submitted their stethoscopes for microbiological analysis. A selection of ward-based stethoscopes were also tested. Personal stethoscopes were then disinfected with an alcohol wipe and re-sampled. All stethoscopes showed bacterial contamination before disinfection, the highest concentration of organisms being seen on doctors' stethoscopes. Skin flora was grown from all samples and 12% grew Staphylococcus aureus. Following decontamination, bacterial levels were greatly reduced, but three contaminated stethoscopes remained heavily colonised even after the disinfection procedure. Staff need to be made more aware of the need to routinely disinfect stethoscopes correctly between each patient use. The increased placement of bed- or ward-specific stethoscopes needs to be considered.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Stethoscopes: a study of contamination and the effectiveness of disinfection procedures

Waghorn

Wan

Greaves

et al. 2005

British Journal of Infection Control

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“…Moreover, 70 studies were commentaries or full articles not in line with the aim of the study and we have excluded them after a careful examination of the abstracts and of the full texts. Finally, we detected 17 publications [3,5,6,9,11,13,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Among these, we included four letters to the editor (Figure 1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, wipes impregnated with benzalkonium can be used to clean stethoscopes. Leprat et al [22] evaluated 105 stethoscopes. The number of CFU on one half of the diaphragm of the contaminated stethoscopes was between 1 and 10 in 34, 11 and 100 in 17 and >100 in 16.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All the chemical disinfectants proved to limit the bacterial presence on stethoscope surfaces [9,11,13,[18][19][20][21][22]. There are various formulations (liquid, gel, foam, or putty) that can be used according to preferences and availability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of disinfectant wipes is a practical and fast method for disinfecting stethoscopes and other authors have also evaluated their effectiveness [19,21,22]. Leprat et al [22] demonstrated the effectiveness of wipes impregnated with benzalkonium against coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), CNS resistant to methicillin (MR-CNS) and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). After cleaning, all contaminated stethoscopes showed no bacterial growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methods of Disinfecting Stethoscopes: Systematic Review

Napolitani

Battaglia

Moirano

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effectiveness of various disinfection methods available for stethoscopes. In March 2019, we performed a search in PubMed and Scopus using the search terms: “reducing stethoscopes contamination” and “disinfection stethoscopes”; the Mesh terms used in PubMed were “Decontamination/methods” or “Disinfection/methods” and “Stethoscopes/microbiology”. Selection criteria were: English language; at least one disinfection method tested. A total of 253 publications were screened. After title, abstract, and full-text analysis, 17 papers were included in the systematic review. Ethanol at 90%, Ethanol-Based Hands Sanitizer (EBHS), triclosan, chlorhexidine, isopropyl alcohol, 66% ethyl alcohol, sodium hypochlorite, and benzalkonium chloride have been proven to lower the presence of bacteria on stethoscopes’ surfaces. In addition, alcohol wipes show effective results. A wearable device emitting ultraviolet C by Light-Emitting Diode (LED) resulted efficacious against common microorganisms involved in Healthcare Associated Infections. The cover impregnated with silver ions seemed to be associated with significantly higher colony counts. Instead, copper stethoscopes surface reduced bacterial load. The disinfection of stethoscopes appears to be essential. There are many valid methods available; the choice depends on various factors, such as the cost, availability, and practicality.

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