Bacterial Colonization and Yeast Carriage on the Hands of Nurses

The spread of pathogens from the environment to patients and from patient to patient frequently begins with the hands of hospital staff. Hands are in constant contact with the environment, and because of this reflect exposure to transient contaminants.‘-3 Candida species, particularly Candida albicans, are potential pathogens capable of causing both local and systemic infection in hospitalized patients. The development of invasive candidiasis is usually attributed to autoinfection after colonization, especially of the gastrointestinal tract. However, there is evidence that patient colonization and candidaemia can also originate from the hands of healthcare workers. We designed the present study to examine the bacterial colonization and the frequency of yeast carriage on the hands of the nurses working in separate units of the hospital of Faculty of Medicine of Selcuk University.