Abstract
Although the amounts of money and time associated with using shoe covers or other means to prevent floor contamination in animal research facilities can be substantial, the most effective policies and practices remain unknown. In this study, the authors subjected six occupied rodent holding rooms in their animal research facility to three conditions: use of disinfectant mats; use of shoe covers; and no disinfectant mats or shoe covers. The authors took bacterial culture samples from the rooms under each condition. There was no significant difference in the mean number of colony forming units (CFUs) cultured when the disinfectant mats or shoe covers were used. However, the mean number of CFUs obtained was significantly lower when either disinfectant mats or shoe covers were used than when neither was used. These results suggest that using disinfectant mats or disposable shoe covers may reduce the bacterial load on rodent holding room floors.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
We are sorry, but there is no personal subscription option available for your country.
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Daschner, F., Frank, U. & Just, H.M. Proven and unproven methods in hospital infection control in intensive care units. Chemioterapia 6, 184–189 (1987).
Duquette-Petersen, L., Francis, M.E., Dohnalek, L., Skinner, R. & Dudas, P. The role of protective clothing in infection prevention in patients undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation. Oncol. Nurs. Forum 26, 1319–1324 (1999).
Humphreys, H., Marshall, R.J., Ricketts, V.E., Russell, A.J. & Reeves, D.S. Theatre over-shoes do not reduce operating theatre floor bacterial counts. J. Hosp. Infect. 17, 117–123 (1991).
Santos, A.M., Lacerda, R.A. & Graziano, K.U. [Evidence of control and prevention of surgical site infection by shoe covers and private shoes: a systematic literature review]. Rev. Lat. Am. Enfermagem 13, 86–92 (2005).
Weightman, N.C. & Banfield, K.R. Protective over-shoes are unnecessary in a day surgery unit. J. Hosp. Infect. 28, 1–3 (1994).
Copp, G., Slezak, L., Dudley, N. & Mailhot, C.B. Footwear practices and operating room contamination. Nurs. Res. 36, 366–369 (1987).
Davidson, L.L. Shoe covers and tacky mats. Infect. Control 8, 305 (1987).
Patterson, P. Do shoe covers help to prevent infection? OR Manager 5, 6–7 (1989).
Widmer, H.R. [Hygienic rituals and proposals for practical action]. Schweiz. Med. Wochenschr. 117, 423–425 (1987).
Curtis, L.T. Prevention of hospital-acquired infections: review of non-pharmacological interventions. J. Hosp. Infect. 69, 204–219 (2008).
Association of Surgical Technologists Education and Professional Standards Committee. Recommended Standards of Practice for Shoe Covers in the Perioperative Environment. (Association of Surgical Technologists, 2007). http://www.ast.org/pdf/Standards_of_Practice/RSOP_Shoe_Covers_Perioperative_Environment.pdf.
Faust, M.A., Kinsel, M.L. & Kirkpatrick, M.A. Characterizing biosecurity, health, and culling during dairy herd expansions. J. Dairy Sci. 84, 955–965 (2001).
Håstein, T. et al. National biosecurity approaches, plans and programmes in response to diseases in farmed aquatic animals: evolution, effectiveness and the way forward. Rev. Sci. Tech. 27, 125–145 (2008).
Stringfellow, K. et al. Evaluation of disinfectants commonly used by the commercial poultry industry under simulated field conditions. Poult. Sci. 88, 1151–1155 (2009).
Amass, S.F., Schneider, J.L. & Gaul, A.M. Evaluation of current and novel protocols for disinfection of airplane passenger footwear under simulated conditions. Prev. Vet. Med. 71, 127–134 (2005).
Chan, Y.F. & Abu Bakar, S. Virucidal activity of Virkon S on human enterovirus. Med. J. Malaysia 60, 246–248 (2005).
El-Naggar, M.Y., Akeila, M.A., Turk, H.A., El-Ebady, A.A. & Sahaly, M.Z. Evaluation of in vitro antibacterial activity of some disinfectants on Escherichia coli serotypes. J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol. 47, 63–73 (2001).
Halfhide, D.E., Gannon, B.W., Hayes, C.M. & Roe, J.M. Wide variation in effectiveness of laboratory disinfectants against bacteriophages. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 47, 608–612 (2008).
McCormick, L. & Maheshwari, G. Inactivation of adenovirus types 5 and 6 by Virkon S. Antiviral Res. 64, 27–33 (2004).
Staal, C. et al. Reducing employee slips, trips, and falls during employee-assisted patient activities. Rehabil. Nurs. 29, 211–214 (2004).
Charrier, L. et al. [Environmental hygiene of the surgery suites for the control of surgical wound infection: Italian legislation and international guidelines]. Ann. Ig. 18, 491–505 (2006).
Hingst, V. [The importance of adhesive dry mats for the reduction of germ spreading in hospitals (author's transl.)]. Zentralbl. Bakteriol. B. 167, 83–86 (1978).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Allen, K., Csida, T., Leming, J. et al. Efficacy of footwear disinfection and shoe cover use in an animal research facility. Lab Anim 39, 107–111 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0410-107
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0410-107