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Changes in the microbial flora of airline headset devices after their use
Author(s) -
Brook Itzhak,
Jackson William E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-199201000-00017
Subject(s) - headset , peptostreptococcus , flora (microbiology) , propionibacterium , microbiology and biotechnology , propionibacterium acnes , staphylococcus , biology , bacteria , streptococcus , staphylococcus aureus , anaerobic bacteria , computer science , genetics , telecommunications
The bacterial flora of 20 headset devices were evaluated before and after they were worn for 1 hour. Bacteria were recovered from all headsets, and their number increased from a mean (± standard deviation) of 60 ± 5 organisms per device to 650 ± 51 organisms per device ( P <.001). The predominant organisms recovered were Staphylococcus spp, Streptococcus spp, Propionibacterium spp, and Peptostreptococcus spp. This study demonstrates the presence of potential pathogens in headset devices, as well as the increase in the number of these pathogens after the headsets have been worn for 1 hour.