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A comparison of methods for microbiologic environmental sampling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2022

Sharon C. Thompson Open the ORCID record for Sharon C. Thompson [Opens in a new window] ,
William A. Rutala ,
Emily E. Sickbert-Bennett ,
Lauren M. DiBiase ,
Deverick J. Anderson Open the ORCID record for Deverick J. Anderson [Opens in a new window] ,
David J. Weber  and
for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention Epicenters Program
Sharon C. Thompson*
Affiliation:
Infection Prevention, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
William A. Rutala
Affiliation:
Infection Prevention, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Emily E. Sickbert-Bennett
Affiliation:
Infection Prevention, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Lauren M. DiBiase
Affiliation:
Infection Prevention, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Deverick J. Anderson
Affiliation:
Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
David J. Weber
Affiliation:
Infection Prevention, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
*
Author for correspondence: Sharon C. Thompson, E-mail: sharon.thompson@unchealth.unc.edu
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Abstract

We compared the effectiveness of 4 sampling methods to recover Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Clostridioides difficile from contaminated environmental surfaces: cotton swabs, RODAC culture plates, sponge sticks with manual agitation, and sponge sticks with a stomacher. Organism type was the most important factor in bacterial recovery.

Type
Concise Communication
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 44 , Issue 9 , September 2023 , pp. 1502 - 1504
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

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