Can hospital radiology departments be potential sources of transmission of nosocomial infections?

• Autor(a) principal: Ribeiro, Edna
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Neves, Ana, Pereiro, Madalena, Estopa, Rita
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.25758/set.2261
• topic: Departamento de radiologia; Infeções nosocomiais; Bactérias Gram-positivas; Bactérias Gram-negativas; Prevenção e controlo de infeções hospitalares; Radiology department; Nosocomial infections; Gram-Positive bacteria; Gram-Negative bacteria; Prevention and control of hospital infections

Introduction – Nosocomial Infections are a current health problem worldwide. The relationship between these infections and the radiology department is poorly explored, but it deserves special attention due to the growing number of people in need of radiological exams. There is great relevance in examining the equipment and the support material used in radiology to determine their colonization by pathogens. The presence of these microorganisms is serious and must be reflected in the improvement of disinfection practices carried out by radiology services. This work aims to Investigate if the equipment of the radiology department can be a potential source of hospital infections. Methods – Here, 41 samples from 4 radiology departments of different hospitals in Lisbon were collected with sterile swabs. These samples were incubated for 18h-24h in BHI and were then transferred to Cetrimide, MacConkey, and Plate Count Agar media. Results – None of the samples showed contamination by Gram-negative bacteria, although it was seen noticeable contamination by Gram-positive bacteria in 75% of all cultures. Discussion – The presence of Gram-positive bacteria shows that the practices of prevention and control of infections can be improved. However, there is a complete elimination of all Gram-negative bacteria, which is positive, including pathogens strongly associated with hospital infections like Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and bacteria from the Enterobacteriacea family. Conclusions – It cannot be ruled out that the surfaces of radiology departments are sources of nosocomial infection transmission, and it is pertinent to improve infection control practices to solve this problem.