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Importance of the Hands of Personnel

EDWARD A. MORTIMER, JR., M.D.; PHILIP J. LIPSITZ, M.B.; EMANUEL WOLINSKY, M.D.; ANTONIO J. GONZAGA, M.D.; CHARLES H. RAMMELKAMP, JR., M.D.

Am J Dis Child. 1962;104(3):289-295.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Previous studies ¹ of the transmission of staphylococci to newborn infants suggested that organisms on the hands of personnel carriers are more important than organisms expelled into the air from the respiratory tracts of such carriers. In addition, these studies provided evidence which indicates that the air is not a major route of spread of organisms between infants.

The fact that organisms nonetheless do spread readily from one infant to another suggests that the hands of personnel may play a role in the transport of staphylococci between infants. The present studies were

designed to test the effectiveness of handwashing by nursery personnel in preventing the spread of organisms between infants and thus to provide indirect evidence regarding the importance of this mode of spread. In addition, an attempt was made to test the role of the airborne route in the transmission of staphylococci among newborns. In order to provide results . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
(CAPETOWN) M.R.C.P. (EDIN.), D.C.H.; CLEVELAND

Edward A. Mortimer, Jr., M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, 3395 Scranton Rd., Cleveland 9, Ohio.; Markle Scholar in Medical Science (Dr. Mortimer).; From the Departments of Pediatrics, Pathology, Medicine, and Preventive Medicine, Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital.

Footnotes
Submitted for publication Nov. 1, 1961.

These studies were conducted under the sponsorship of the Commission on Streptococcal and Staphylococcal Diseases, Armed Forces Epidemiological Board, and supported by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., and aided by a training grant (2E-180) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service.

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