Role of Airborne Transmission in Staphylococcal Infections

Abstract

The role of air-borne organisms in the transmission of staphylococci between babies was studied under strictly controlled conditions in a small nursery with a group of special nurses. The rate of transmission was between 6 and 10% to 158 newborns cared for in such a way that organisms from infant carriers could be transmitted to them only via the air-borne route. In contrast, 126 infants who were handled by nurses who also handled the neighbouring carrier babies with little or no handwashing exhibited a 43% rate of acquisition of the carrier strains. A careful hexachlorophane wash of the hands of the nurses who cared for the carriers decreased the transmission rate to 14%. The carrier strains were often recovered from settling-plates exposed throughout the special nursery. It is concluded that under ordinary circumstances air-borne organisms probably account for only a small proportion of staphylococcal transmission in the nursery, and that efficient handwashing techniques can reduce staphylococcal spread appreciably. © 1966, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.