Non-Critical Medical Devices such as Clinical Thermometers and Sphygmomanometer (Blood Pressure) Cuffs are Potential Vectors for Hospital-Acquired Infections: A Case Study of a Tertiary Care Hospital in North-Central Nigeria

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) also known as nosocomial infections have been a persistent public health challenge particularly in developing countries. HAIs are also referred to as healthcare-associated infections. Often times, greater priority has been given to invasive diagnostic or therapeutic medical and surgical devices while the non-critical medical devices have been neglected by healthcare providers. This study aimed at evaluating the ability of non-critical medical devices such as clinical thermometers and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure cuffs) in HAI transmission at Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BhUTH), Jos, Plateau State, North-Central Nigeria. A total of 27 swabs from clinical thermometers and blood pressure (BP) cuffs were obtained from various hospital units and analyzed in the microbiology laboratory of the same hospital using standard microbiological techniques. Obtained results revealed bacterial contaminations of clinical thermometers and BP cuffs at 66.7% and 86.7% respectively. Alarmingly, 92.3% and 88.9% of the hospital units showed contamination of clinical thermometers and BP cuffs respectively. The major isolated bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus (84.2%), Escherichia coli (21.0%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.2%). S. aureus and E. coli isolates were resistant to all the beta-lactam antibiotics such as amoxicillin and cefuroxime. However, all the isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and streptomycin. Non-critical medical devices harbor pathogenic bacteria and can be transmitted to patients and healthcare workers. Therefore, there is an urgent need for quality control and contamination surveillance on non-critical medical devices. Frequent sanitization (in between patients), washing or replacement (at intervals) of the clinical thermometers and BP cuffs is also highly recommended.