The transient contamination of medical professional’s attires including white coats is one of the major vehicles for the horizontal transmission of microorganisms in the hospital environment. This study was carried out to determine the degree of contamination by bacterial agents on the white coats in a tertiary care hospital in Nepal. Sterilized uniforms with fabric patches of 10 cm × 15 cm size attached to the right and left pockets were distributed to 12 nurses of six different wards of a teaching hospital at the beginning of their work shift. Worn coats were collected at the end of the shifts and the patches were subjected for total bacterial count and identification of selected bacterial pathogens, as prioritized by the World Health Organization (WHO). Fifty percent of the sampled swatches were found to be contaminated by pathogenic bacteria. The average colony growth per square inch of the patch was 524 and 857 during first and second workdays, respectively, indicating an increase of 63.6% in colony counts. The pathogens detected on patches were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter sp. Additional bacteria identified included Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp., and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS). The nurses working in the maternity department had their white coats highly contaminated with bacteria. On the other hand, the least bacterial contamination was recorded from the nurses of the surgery ward. One S. aureus isolate from the maternity ward was resistant to methicillin. This study showed that pathogens belonging to the WHO list of critical priority and high priority have been isolated from white coats of nurses, thus posing the risk of transmission to patients. White coats must be worn, maintained, and washed properly to reduce bacterial contamination load and to prevent cross-contamination of potential superbugs. The practice of wearing white coats outside the healthcare zone should be strictly discouraged.

中文翻译：

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大学医院医务人员白大褂细菌

医务人员服装的临时污染，包括白大褂，是医院环境中微生物水平传播的主要手段之一。这项研究是为了确定尼泊尔一家三级护理医院中白衣上细菌制剂的污染程度。轮班开始时，将左右两侧分别贴有10厘米×15厘米大小的布块的消毒制服分发给教学医院六个不同病房的12名护士。轮班结束时收集破旧的外衣，并按世界卫生组织（WHO）的要求对斑块进行总细菌计数和选定细菌病原体的鉴定。发现有百分之五十的样本被病原菌污染。在第一和第二个工作日，每平方英寸补丁的平均菌落生长分别为524和857，表明菌落计数增加了63.6％。在斑块上检测到的病原体是金黄色葡萄球菌，大肠杆菌，铜绿假单胞菌和不动杆菌。确定的其他细菌包括芽孢杆菌属，微球菌属和凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌（CoNS）。在妇产科工作的护士的白大褂被细菌高度污染。另一方面，从手术病房的护士那里记录到的细菌污染最少。一金黄色葡萄球菌从产科病房分离出的对甲氧西林有抗药性。这项研究表明，已经从护士的白大褂中分离出了属于WHO关键优先级和高度优先级清单的病原体，因此存在传播给患者的风险。必须适当地穿着，维护和清洗白大衣，以减少细菌污染负荷并防止潜在的超级细菌交叉污染。严格禁止在医疗区外穿白大褂的做法。