Long and short sleeves 'carry same number of bacteria'
Thursday 10th February 2011
There is no difference between the number of bacteria found on physicians wearing long-sleeved clothing and those wearing items with short sleeves, research has revealed.
After an eight hour day, there was seen to be no difference in the amount of bacteria carried on the cuffs of these items or on the wearers wrists, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Researchers from the University of Colorado tested the uniforms of 100 physicians at Denver Health who were randomly assigned freshly laundered short-sleeve garments or their usual white coat.
Lead researcher Marisha Burden said: "Our data does not support discarding white coats for uniforms that are changed on a daily basis, or for requiring healthcare workers to avoid long-sleeved garments."
This comes after the UK government issued guidelines banning the wearing of white coats and long-sleeved garments within hospitals due to belief that these would make the wearers more prone to picking up bacteria.
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