Computers a Source of Patient Room Contamination

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Computers a Source of Patient Room Contamination

Updated: Wed, May 23 1:13 PM EDT

By Karla Gale

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Efforts to control the spread of

infection in

hospitals should include routine cleaning of computer central

processing

units, researchers reported at the American Society for

Microbiology's

annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

" Computers were recently installed into patient rooms to streamline

procedures for physicians and nursing staff, " Dr. Forstall of

Mclaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, told Reuters

Health.

At about that same time, Forstall and his colleagues diagnosed a

patient

with Aspergillus fumigatus infection, " one we don't normally see at

our

hospital, " he said. A. fumigatus is a type of fungus.

" We saw that the computers had a vent with a cooling fan, and there

was

almost an exhaust coming from the fan, so when we took samples from

the grid

and from the room, we found that there was growth of several types

of yeast

and some filamentous mold, " Forstall said.

Cultures were obtained from dust on the central processing units

(CPUs), and

plates were exposed to room air approximately 6 feet from the

computers.

From the CPUs, Forstall's group identified several potentially

infectious

fungal organisms including Candida, Aspergillus niger,

Phaeoannellomyces,

Rhodotorula and Rhizopus.

" There is a risk of contamination of computer units, " Forstall

concluded,

" and measures probably need to be taken to maintain their

cleanliness,

especially around the grid that protects the cooling fan. "

, June 08, 2001 12:13 AM

Computer fungus risk to patients

Infection control should include regular computer cleaning

Critically ill patients in hospital intensive care units could be at

risk from computers spewing infectious fungal spores.

American researchers found a rare hospital fungus " Aspergillus

fumigatus " in their intensive care wards following the installation

of computers.

Dr Forstall, of the McLaren Regional Medical Centre, in

Michigan, said his research highlighted the need for careful

cleaning of computers.

He told the American Society for Microbiology that when researchers

analysed cultures from dust on the central processing units and

other parts of the equipment, they spotted another five types of

fungus which can cause illness.

There is a risk of contamination of computer units and measures

probably need to be taken to maintain their cleanliness

Dr Forstall

Contamination

Dr Forstall said the fungal contaminations were first discovered

when the computers were introduced into his hospital's 23-bed

Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

" Computers were recently installed into patient rooms to streamline

procedures for physicians and nursing staff.

Scientists found the fungus in the intensive care units

" We saw that the computers had a vent with a cooling fan, and there

was almost an exhaust coming from the fan, so when we took samples

from the grid and from the room, we found that there was a growth of

several types of yeast and some filamentous mould.

" There is a risk of contamination of computer units and measures

probably need to be taken to maintain their cleanliness, especially

around the grid that protects the cooling fan, " he said.

Breed cultures

Dr Binning, a consultant anaesthetist in ICU at the

Western Infirmary, in Glasgow, said UK hospitals would also need to

ensure their computers were clean.

He said he had been unaware of the potential of computers to store

and breed cultures but added that inspections would now be carried

out.

" It could potentially be a problem.

" I think it is one of the many potential problems in hospitals and

is another aspect that we will be looking at.

" We have infection control teams that swab regularly here in the

unit. "

Dr Binning said that due to financial constraints in the NHS there

were fewer hospital computers on intensive care wards compared to

the US, where each intensive care ward bed can have a PC and

monitor.

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