Acrylic fingernails and Bacteria

[Guest guest]

This has been on the news today. I thought it was interesting.

Kaiser is not allowing their nurses to wear acrylic nails anymore.

Take care,

from Southern CA

Nurses' Artificial Nails Pose Infection Hazard

NEW YORK, Sep 29 (Reuters Health) -- Nurses with acrylic fingernails

are more likely to have harmful bacteria on their nails than other

nurses, even after handwashing, according to researchers.

" The use of artificial nails by nurses may increase the chances that

harmful bacteria will be transmitted to patients and cause

infection, " report investigators led by Dr. Carol Kauffman of the Ann

Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Michigan. They presented the

findings to attendees at the 39th Interscience Conference of

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, held this week in San

Francisco.

Kauffman and colleagues explain that " as the use of artificial

acrylic fingernails has become more fashionable, more and more nurses

have begun wearing them. " Because hand-to-hand transmission is a

major source of bacterial infection, the researchers speculated that

acrylic nails might raise bacterial transmission risks between nurses

and patients.

To test this theory, they compared the amount and type of bacteria on

the nails of 21 nurses who wore artificial nails with the bacteria

found on the fingernails of 20 nurses who did not wear artificial

nails.

" Before handwashing, 73% of nurses with artificial nails compared

with only 32% of nurses without had harmful bacteria present on their

nails, " the authors report. These numbers dropped to 68% and 26%,

respectively, after the nurses washed their hands.

Based on these findings, the researchers urge that " hospital

infection control policies should discourage the use of artificial

fingernails by all healthcare workers. "

[Guest guest]

from So Cal,

I used to wear acrylic nails and loved them so much I learned the process and

even took the test to get my license to do acrylic nails.

I would not recommend acrylic nails to anyone.

The problem with bacteria growing is very real. Even if it is not bad enough

to cause permanent fingernail damage, it is there and spreading germs

everywhere you go.

Healthcare workers and food handlers should never be allowed to wear acrylic

nails.

I was taught to use very sanitary precautions to prevent the spreading of

fungus but most nail techs will take one person right after another without

even wiping down the table.

I know it is a great feeling being pampered but the chance of getting

bacteria and fungus is very real. And germs really love those acrylic nails.

Just wanted to let everybody know.

Love, Aunt B

[Guest guest]

> " Before handwashing, 73% of nurses with artificial nails compared

> with only 32% of nurses without had harmful bacteria present on

their

> nails, " the authors report. These numbers dropped to 68% and 26%,

> respectively, after the nurses washed their hands.

Wow, I find it disturbing that 26% of the nurses without artificial

nails still had harmful bacteria present on their nails after

handwashing. I would have thought that number to be lower. Now I'm

wondering what I need to do to keep the nurses' germy hands away from

my child during exams. I wonder if it would be out-of-the ordinary

for a parent to insist that they " glove-up " before touching? Some of

them give me *the look* when I insist on handwashing. Maybe this is

even too lax?

This has been in the news before. I can't remember where, but there

was a hospital that had some infants in the PICU die of infections

that were traced back to the artificial nails of nurses. Pub Med

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi has some info. I have

copied a couple of the abstracts below. Note the dates. It makes

you wonder how " cutting edge " our hospitals are if they are just now

implementing guidelines about this.

~

mommy of 3, 1 with cf

____

1: Curr Opin Infect Dis 2001 Aug;14(4):449-53 Links

Infection control in pediatric hospitals.

Neely M, Toltzis P.

Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of

Medicine, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, University

Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.

Important characteristics of hospital infection control are specific

to pediatric facilities. For example, colonization and infection with

vancomycin-resistant enterococci, which are widely spread in many

units housing adult patients, are uncommon in children, especially in

the neonatal intensive care unit where vancomycin use is heavy.

Characteristics of the neonatal intensive care unit, such as the

insulated environment and infrequent treatment with antibiotics with

broad anaerobic activity, likely account for this finding. Artificial

fingernails have been discovered to promote colonization with

potential pathogens; their implication in recent nursery epidemics

emphasizes the need to prohibit their use in this environment in

particular. Finally, nosocomial viral infections occur with

regularity in pediatric hospitals. Programs that successfully and

cost-effectively control hospital spread of respiratory syncytial

virus, however, demonstrate that rational, multifaceted interventions

can nearly eliminate transmission of certain viral pathogens on the

pediatric wards.

Publication Types:

Review

Review, Tutorial

PMID: 11964864 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

-------------

1: Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2000 Feb;21(2):80-5 Links

Comment in:

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2000 Feb;21(2):77-9.

A prolonged outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a neonatal

intensive care unit: did staff fingernails play a role in disease

transmission?

Moolenaar RL, Crutcher JM, San Joaquin VH, Sewell LV, Hutwagner LC,

Carson LA, Robison DA, ee LM, Jarvis WR.

Acute Disease Division, Oklahoma State Department of Health, Oklahoma

City, USA.

OBJECTIVES: To describe an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

bloodstream infection (BSI) and endotracheal tube (ETT) colonization

in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), determine risk factors for

infection, and make preventive recommendations. DESIGN: A 15-month

cohort study followed by a case-control study with an environmental

survey and molecular typing of available isolates using pulsed-field

gel electrophoresis. SETTING AND PATIENTS: Neonates in the NICU of a

university-affiliated children's hospital. INTERVENTIONS: Improved

hand washing and restriction of use of long or artificial

fingernails. RESULTS: Of 439 neonates admitted during the study

period, 46 (10.5%) acquired P aeruginosa; 16 (35%) of those died.

Fifteen (75%) of 20 patients for whom isolates were genotyped had

genotype A, and 3 (15%) had genotype B. Of 104 healthcare workers

(HCWs) from whom hand cultures were obtained, P aeruginosa was

isolated from three nurses. Cultures from nurses A-1 and A-2 grew

genotype A, and cultures from nurse B grew genotype B. Nurse A-1 had

long natural fingernails, nurse B had long artificial fingernails,

and nurse A-2 had short natural fingernails. On multivariate logistic

regression analysis, exposure to nurse A-1 and exposure to nurse B

were each independently associated with acquiring a BSI or ETT

colonization with P aeruginosa, but other variables, including

exposure to nurse A-2, were not. CONCLUSION: Epidemiological evidence

demonstrated an association between acquiring P aeruginosa and

exposure to two nurses. Genetic and environmental evidence supported

that association and suggested, but did not prove, a possible role

for long or artificial fingernails in the colonization of HCWs' hands

with P aeruginosa. Requiring short natural fingernails in NICUs is a

reasonable policy that might reduce the incidence of hospital-

acquired infections.

PMID: 10697282 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/31/03 8:06:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, LAzstars@...

writes:

> This has been on the news today. I thought it was interesting.

> Kaiser is not allowing their nurses to wear acrylic nails anymore

We were told last year that any parents; relatives; caregivers of our cf

children were to remove the fake nails. My sister and I both removed ours

immediately.

- Sally -

Mom of

Bri 14 JV All star amazing best cheerleader

12w/asthma

9w/cf & ds

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 2/1/03 3:27:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, ma8169@...

writes:

> I wonder if it would be out-of-the ordinary

> for a parent to insist that they " glove-up " before touching?

Doesn't everyone glove up before touching your children? They do here. I'm

beginning to think some of these centers are little to lax in the infectious

part of cf.

- Sally -

Mom of

Bri 14 JV All star amazing best cheerleader

12w/asthma

9w/cf & ds