Beware of Bacteria on Computer Keyboards
By Christina Orlovsky, senior staff writer
The increase in computer usage in hospitals may be a boon for health care information technology, but it could also be a bust for infection prevention. New research out of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in Chicago, Illinois, has found that computer keyboards and keyboard covers have the potential to harbor potentially harmful bacteria for prolonged periods of time.
“The problem is especially important in hospitals and other health care environments where patients are at risk of contracting bacterial infections from health care providers who use computers,” said lead researcher Gary A. Noskin, M.D., medical director of health care epidemiology and quality at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Researchers studied three bacteria commonly found in a hospital environment, including two bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics: vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), which can cause complicated abdominal, skin, urinary tract and bloodstream infections in people with compromised immune systems; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), or “staph” infections, which can cause a skin rash, boils, blisters or other skin afflictions; and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSAE), a frequent cause of pneumonia, urinary tract and bloodstream infections.
After placing the bacteria on computer equipment, Noskin and his colleagues determined that the VRE and MSRA bacteria could survive for at least 24 hours after contamination. The PSAE bacteria lasted for up to an hour on the keyboard and five minutes on the keyboard cover.
More significant, however, were findings indicating that the likelihood of transmitting the bacteria from the keyboard to a person’s hands increased with use, up to 92 percent for MRSA, 50 percent for VRE and 18 percent for PSAE. Once the bacteria were present on the hands of a health care provider, they could then easily be transmitted from provider to patient.
Noskin explained that these findings offer just one more reason for health care providers to practice proper hand hygiene both before and after using a computer.
“While it’s important to disinfect computer equipment on a regular basis, the most important disease prevention strategy is to wash your hands prior to patient contact,” Noskin said.
For more information on infection control, visit the Web site of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
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