Measurement of the Bacterial Contamination on Surfaces in Hospitals

on surfaces in hospitals such as floors, walls, tables, and sinks is infrequently measured. Most cleaning practices are based on appear-ance and tradition. Floors are mopped until they look clean. Germicides are used be¬ cause cleaning has always been done that way. Kesponsible hospital staff members desire labo¬ ratory analysis of contamination in their areas, but the time and labor required for most of the current techniques place an excessive amount of work on the laboratory. Therefore, there is a need for improved techniques for representative sampling of bacteria on such surfaces as floors, walls, and equipment, as well as on surfaces of the human body. A simple, convenient sam¬ pling procedure would be useful in tracing routes of infection, identification of human car¬ riers, evaluation of decontamination procedures, bacteriological surveillance of the institutional environment, and in inservice training of per¬ sonnel concerned with institutional sanitation. Most of the earlier techniques of surface sampling stem from the highly developed field of food handling sanitation. The cotton swab has been used extensively, particularly where dilution of the sample is required (1, 2). In another technique, agar is applied directly to At the time of the study Mr. Hall was chief of the