Hand carriage of Candida species and risk factors in hospital personnel
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Date
2007
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Access Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
Abstract
The hands of healthcare workers (HCWs) are considered to be important for colonisation and infection of Candida spp. The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate of Candida carriage on the hands of the hospital personnel the potential risk factors. Samples were collected from the hands of 214 (139 female and 75 male) hospital personnel working at Duzce Medical Faculty Hospital, Duzce, Turkey. Of these, 88 were nurses, 62 resident doctors, 21 laboratory workers, 30 officers and 13 dining room personnel. The hands of all participants were tested by culture with the broth wash technique. Overall, 34.1% of the people analysed were found to harbour Candida spp. on their hands: 30.7% were nurses, 25.8% resident doctors, 28.6% laboratory workers, 84.6% dining room personnel and 43.3% officers. Candida carriage rates of the dining room personnel were higher than found in the other groups (P = 0.001). Isolated Candida species were C. parapsilosis (38.4%), C. tropicalis (26.0%), C. albicans (23.3%), C. kefyr (11.0%) and C. globosa (1.4%). Candida carriage rate was higher in the glove-using group (35.1%) than the non-glove using group (7.1%, P = 0.031). We concluded that carriage of Candida species on the hands of personnel was common especially in non-medical staff. Wearing gloves was found to be related to increased rates of Candida carriage in the nurse group. Candida parapsilosis was the most frequently colonising species that may be a predisposing condition for nosocomial infections transmitted with the hands of HCWs. Hospital personnel should be educated for regular hand washing practice for preventing Candida colonisation.
Description
WOS: 000246151400005
PubMed: 17472614
PubMed: 17472614
Keywords
Candida carriage, hospital personnel, risk factors
Journal or Series
Mycoses
WoS Q Value
Q3
Scopus Q Value
Q1
Volume
50
Issue
3
