Human pathogenic bacteria on high-touch dry surfaces can be controlled by warming to human-skin temperature under moderate humidity.

ABSTRACT: Healthcare-associated infections have become a major health issue worldwide. One route of transmission of pathogenic bacteria is through contact with "high-touch" dry surfaces, such as handrails. Regular cleaning of surfaces with disinfectant chemicals is insufficient against pathogenic bacteria and alternative control methods are therefore required. We previously showed that warming to human-skin temperature affected the survival of pathogenic bacteria on dry surfaces, but humidity was not considered in that study. Here, we investigated environmental factors that affect the number of live bacteria on dry surfaces in hospitals by principal component analysis of previously-collected data (n = 576, for CFU counts), and experimentally verified the effect of warming to human-skin temperature o

SUBMITTER: Konno A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10511134 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature