MONDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- X-ray equipment, and the technicians using it, may represent an important link in cross-infection between patients in intensive care units, according to research published in the August issue of Chest.

Phillip D. Levin, of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, and colleagues observed radiograph technicians performing chest radiographs of ICU patients to determine whether technicians took precautions such as using gloves and washing hands. The researchers then took culture samples from the X-ray machine and later encouraged technicians to practice better infection control. They observed 173 chest radiographs during the observation period, 113 during the intervention period, and 120 during follow-up.

The investigators found that adequate infection control was used during 1 percent of radiographs during the observation period, 42 percent of intervention-period radiographs, and 10 percent of follow-up-period radiographs. Culture samples from machines found resistant Gram-negative bacteria on 39 percent of occasions during observation, 0 percent during intervention, and 50 percent during follow-up.

"This study showed that infection control measures are practiced poorly by radiograph technicians, that over the short-term, infection control practices can be significantly improved, but that the improvement is not maintained over time. In parallel, the study demonstrated that the radiograph equipment is frequently colonized by highly resistant bacteria, in some cases bacteria identical to those found in patient cultures," the authors conclude.

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)