Bacterial colonization of toys in neonatal intensive care cots
- PMID: 10920174
- DOI: 10.1542/peds.106.2.e18
Bacterial colonization of toys in neonatal intensive care cots
Abstract
Objectives: To investigate the bacteria and fungi contaminating toys in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) cots, the colonization rates, and factors that influence them.
Methods: A cross-sectional, longitudinal bacteriologic survey of all toys in the cots of infants in an NICU. All the toys in an infant's cot were cultured weekly for 4 weeks. Data were collected on the infant's postnatal age, the type of cot, whether humidity was added, characteristics of the toy, and any infant infections.
Results: Over the 4-week period, there were 86 cultures from 34 toys of 19 infants. Bacteria were grown from 84/86 (98%): 84 of the cultures grew coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, 50 Micrococcus sp, 21 Bacillus sp, 13 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 12 diphtheroids, 4 group B streptococcus, 3 S aureus, 3 nonhemolytic streptococci, 3 group D streptococci, 4 alpha-hemolytic streptococci, and 2 coliforms. None grew fungi. The colonization rate did not differ with cot type, presence of humidity, size of the toy, toy fiber length, or the fluffiness score. Eight (42%) of the infants had positive blood culture results and 5/8 of the isolates (63%) were of the same type as that colonizing their corresponding toy.
Implications: With time, all the toys in NICU cots became colonized with bacteria. Many were potentially pathogenic. Toys may be reservoirs for potential infantile nosocomial sepsis. infant, newborn, toys, infection, neonatal intensive care.
Similar articles
-
Toys in a pediatric hospital: are they a bacterial source?Am J Infect Control. 2004 Aug;32(5):287-90. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2003.10.018. Am J Infect Control. 2004. PMID: 15292894
-
Neonatal intensive care unit: reservoirs of nosocomial pathogens.West Afr J Med. 2002 Oct-Dec;21(4):310-2. doi: 10.4314/wajm.v21i4.28007. West Afr J Med. 2002. PMID: 12665273
-
Evidence-based practice: examining the risk of toys in the microenvironment of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.Adv Neonatal Care. 2004 Aug;4(4):184-201, quiz 202-5. doi: 10.1016/j.adnc.2004.05.002. Adv Neonatal Care. 2004. PMID: 15368211 Review.
-
Conjunctival colonization of infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit: a longitudinal analysis.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2004 Mar;25(3):216-20. doi: 10.1086/502381. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2004. PMID: 15061413
-
Cot-nursing versus incubator care for preterm infants.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(1):CD003062. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003062. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003. PMID: 12535451 Updated. Review.
Cited by 12 articles
-
Supportive Care During Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Prevention of Infections. A Report From Workshops on Supportive Care of the Paediatric Diseases Working Party (PDWP) of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT).Front Pediatr. 2021 Jul 29;9:705179. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.705179. eCollection 2021. Front Pediatr. 2021. PMID: 34395344 Free PMC article.
-
Evaluation of No-Touch Technologies for Decontamination of Toys in Pediatric Healthcare Settings.Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Jan 5;8(2):ofab004. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab004. eCollection 2021 Feb. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021. PMID: 34164561 Free PMC article.
-
Le contrôle des infections au cabinet du pédiatre.Paediatr Child Health. 2008 May;13(5):422-435. doi: 10.1093/pch/13.5.422. Epub 2008 May 1. Paediatr Child Health. 2008. PMID: 32288509 Free PMC article. French.
-
WHO CLEANS YOUR OCTOPUS? AN OBSERVATION OF CLEANING BEHAVIOURS AND BACTERIAL COLONISATION OF TOYS IN A NEONATAL UNIT.Ulster Med J. 2020 Jan;89(1):45-46. Epub 2020 Feb 18. Ulster Med J. 2020. PMID: 32218634 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
-
Essentials of infection prevention in the pediatric population.Int J Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2016 Dec;3(4):143-152. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpam.2016.10.002. Epub 2016 Dec 28. Int J Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2016. PMID: 30805485 Free PMC article. Review.
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous
