Rubella immunity in medical students: implications for health‐care workers

Objective: Cross-transmission by the hands of health-care workers is considered the main route of spread of nosocomial infections. Awareness among medical students and interns about the importance of hand hygiene practices and facilities for its adherence can play a major role in reducing disease transmission. The objectives of the present study were: (1) To determine the level and type of microbial contamination present on the hands of medical students and interns from a teaching hospital of Mangalore, Karnataka, and (2) to evaluate the relationship between hand contamination and knowledge, attitude, and practices of hand hygiene.Methods: Swabs were obtained from the dominant hand and the skin surface beneath the rings of participants during their routine work hours. Laboratory analysis was carried out within one hour of collection of samples. The participants were asked to fill a questionnaire on hand hygiene. Descriptive statistics and analysis was done by Chi-square test.Results: Of the 70 study participants, 35 (50%) were medical undergraduate students and 35 (50%) were medical interns. The contamination rate was higher among the undergraduates (91.4% [32/35]) compared to interns (77.1% [27/35]). 38 (54%) participants hands were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, of which 17 (44.7%) were methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Although overall knowledge status about hand hygiene was good, concepts about certain key elements in hand hygiene were not clearly understood by the participants. Knowledge about alcohol-based hand rubs was not up to the mark. The level of knowledge was found to be similar between UGs and interns and between the genders. Wearing ring while handling patients had an influence on hand contamination.Conclusions: Although the overall knowledge about hand hygiene was good, very few participants knew that hand hygiene after exposure to immediate surroundings of patient can prevent cross-transmission. Health-care workers may unknowingly carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria on their hands. Being unaware of this fact may have serious repercussions as the students and interns may serve as a medium for the spread of nosocomial infections.

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Self-reported vaccination status and attitudes towards mandatory vaccinations for health care workers among medical students

Vaccine ◽

10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.06.046 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (35) ◽

pp. 5695-5699

Author(s):

Ursula Kunze ◽

Heike Schweinzer

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Vaccination Status ◽

Care Workers

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Medical students’ and public obstetric health care workers’ knowledge of the Saving Mothers campaign

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine ◽

10.4102/phcfm.v3i1.184 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Almereau Prollius ◽

Gina Joubert ◽

Adelien Du Toit ◽

Susan Joubert ◽

Tarina Lourens ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Maternal Mortality ◽

Big Five ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Median Score ◽

Related Factors ◽

Obstetric Haemorrhage ◽

Care Workers ◽

Different Levels

Maternal mortality in South Africa has been receiving attention since it became notifiable in 1997. The ’big five’ causes of maternal mortality are non-pregnancy-related infections (mainly HIV), complications of hypertension during pregnancy, obstetric haemorrhage, pregnancyrelated sepsis and pre-existing medical conditions. In many cases in which women die during pregnancy or childbirth, avoidable health worker-related factors can be identified. This study assessed the knowledge of different levels of medical students and health care workers at public health obstetric facilities in Bloemfontein concerning the Saving Mothers campaign.The self-administered, test-like questionnaire was completed by senior medical students,interns and obstetric personnel (nurses or midwives). Interns obtained the highest median score (48%) for the questionnaire, while nurses obtained a median score of 31%. The results strongly suggest that training specific to the Saving Mothers campaign is urgently required across all levels of health care personnel.

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Effect of end of life education on medical students’ and health care workers’ death attitude

Palliative Medicine ◽

10.1177/0269216307086520 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 264-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

K Hegedus ◽

Á Zana ◽

G Szabó

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

End Of Life ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Care Workers ◽

Life Education

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The reliability of the Study burnout inventory among Medical students

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.341 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

J Todorovic ◽

Z Terzic-Supic ◽

J Divjak ◽

S Kocic ◽

S Radovic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Burnout Syndrome ◽

Psychometric Characteristics ◽

Good Reliability ◽

Retest Reliability ◽

Cronbach Alpha ◽

Care Workers ◽

Test Retest Reliability

Abstract Background The burnout syndrome is increasingly recognized as the factor compromising the mental health of health-care workers. The demands of higher education were reported to influence the development of burnout syndrome among students. Medical students are a significant population as both future health care workers and students with high academic demands. The burnout among medical students has been studied using different questionnaires. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of the Study Burnout inventory for the assessment of burnout among medical students. Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted during December of 2019 among the fifth year Medical students at the five Universities in Serbia (University of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Nis, and Kosovska Mitrovica). The questionnaire used was the Study Burnout Inventory, nine-item scale, measuring three dimensions of burnout (exhaustion from studying- EXH; cynicism toward the meaningfulness of studying-CYN; the sense of inadequacy as a student-INAD). Answers were given on a six-point Lickert scale. The assessment of psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire was done using the reliability analysis (Cronbach alpha-α) and test-retest reliability (intra-class coefficient-ICC). Sensitivity and specificity were assessed using the Receiver operation curves (ROC) compared to the total burnout assessed by the Copenhagen burnout inventory. Results A total of 493 students filled-in the questionnaire. The mean score was 28.95±8.87/54. The Cronbach alpha for the total scale was α = 0.839, for the EXH scale was α = 0.724, for the CYN scale was α = 0.767, and for the INAD scale was α = 0.431. The test-retest reliability was ICC=0.750. The total area under the curve was 0.756 (95% CI: 0.711-0.800). Conclusions The Study Burnout Inventory has good reliability and can be used for rapid assessment of burnout among Medical students, as this scale is short and convenient for the participants. Key messages The Study burnout inventory has a good reliability as a total scale. This short scale is convenient for the participants and can be used for assessment of burnout.

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Involvement of Mobile phones as a source for Nosocomial infections

Asian Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.3126/ajms.v12i7.34788 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 126-129

Author(s):

Priyanka Shukla ◽

Bushra Khalid ◽

Shadma Yaqoob ◽

Sharique Ahmad

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Mobile Phone ◽

Mobile Phones ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Nosocomial Infections ◽

Teaching Staff ◽

Biochemical Tests ◽

Care Workers ◽

Communication Devices

Background: Mobile phones are communication devices for communication nowadays and have emerged as a need of our life. Mobile phones also act as a reservoir for microorganisms. Human skin, wallets, bags, environment and food items are major sources of contamination for mobile phones. Medical students, healthcare workers and other non-teaching staff nowadays use mobile phones for communication in the workplace. Mobile phone contamination spreads from surfaces to hands. Aims and Objective: Our study was aimed to investigate the contamination of mobile phones by pathogens among health care workers. The objective of this study was to document for the role of mobile phones as sources in nosocomial infections. Materials and Methods: The study was done in Department of Microbiology and Pathology, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, including teaching staffs from hospital and college, health care workers in all laboratories and wards. A total of 200 swab samples from various mobile phones of medical and technical staff of various wards, Outpatient Department Treatment, laboratories was collected after taking informed written consent from them. Culture was done on Blood Agar, MacConkey Agar, and Sabouraud’s dextrose agar. After overnight incubation, colonies were identified by Gram’s stain and Biochemical tests. Results: Highest mobile phone users are medical students, residents followed by teaching faculty. Smart phones or touch screen mobiles were used by maximum ie.90.5%. Among the isolated bacteria, Bacillus (39.5%), CONS (19%), E.coli (15.5%), Klebsiella (10.5%), Pseudomonas (5.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (4%), Enterococcus (2.5%). No growth was seen in 3.5%mobile phone sample cultures. Not a single fungal pathogen was isolated. Conclusion: The findings is the present study suggests that the mobile phones used by medical staff and health care workers act as source of transmission vehicles for pathogenic microorganisms.

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Immunization status of students of Nishtar medical university against hepatitis B

International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences ◽

10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20184427 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (11) ◽

pp. 3669

Author(s):

Dilawar Khan ◽

Hassan Abdullah Shakeel ◽

Hamza Maqsood ◽

Hafiz Muhammad Ahmar Aziz ◽

Muhammad Jahantab Qazi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Hbv Infection ◽

Vaccine Uptake ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Care Workers ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Medical University

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Occupational exposure of health care workers and medical students increase their risk of acquiring HBV infection, and many authorities recommend vaccination. However, significant proportions of health care workers do not receive HBV immunization, and remain at increased risk to HBV infection. The present study was conducted on medical students to evaluate their knowledge regarding HBV and to know their vaccination status.Methods: This cross sectional, randomized, observational study was done at Nishtar medical university, Multan from November 2017 to July 2018. A pre-structured and tested questionnaire was given to 150 medical students from first year to final year. Out of these students 75 were males and 75 were females. The students were also interviewed about age, gender, year of study, screening before vaccination, history of vaccination, completion of all 3 doses and reasons for not getting vaccinated.Results: Out of 150 participants, 117 (78%) were vaccinated against HBV. In the vaccinated group, 90 (77%) completed all the three doses of their vaccination schedule and remaining 27 (23%) students were incompletely vaccinated. Rate of vaccine uptake was higher in females; 63 (84%) than in males: 53 (71%). Reasons of not being vaccinated were lack of knowledge about consequences (15.5%), casual behaviour (36%), not knowing from where to get vaccine (12%), fear of injection (10%), busy in studies (10%) and financial problems (8%). Prior screening was done in 74 (63%) students before the vaccination.Conclusions: Despite the availability and accessibility of a cost-effective hepatitis B vaccine since mid80's, the vaccination coverage among medical students is low. Health education needs to be improved in all medical students. The orientation and awareness programmes should be held to create awareness regarding HBV infection.

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