Appropriate technology adaptation to mitigate community transmission of SARS CoV2 virus in resourced challenged Bhutan and Bangladesh

The SARS CoV2 pandemic has a tremendous impact on both developed and developing countries. To mitigate against community transmission of SARS CoV2 in Southern Bhutan and Central Bangladesh, the development and application of appropriate technologies was undertaken. As an appropriate mitigation, hand washing station was constructed by a simple system. The system was operated using a foot pedal to limit cross contamination by direct hand contact, hand sanitizer utilization and disinfection application in Central Bangladesh. The study highlighted a local innovation in constrained environments to provide public health solutions for preventing the spread of SARS CoV2. The innovation and mitigation measures can be replicated in other resource challenged regions of the world as mitigations steps to limit community transmission of SARS CoV2.

THE POTENTIAL OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) TRANSMISSION IN MEDAN CITY, INDONESIA

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, mainly caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome, remains a global challenge. This study aimed to identify the potential of COVID-19 transmission in Medan City, Indonesia, by utilizing a quantitative descriptive design with a survey method based on questionnaire administration on Google Form. A total of 293 respondents were selected as a research sample through the accidental sampling technique. This study showed that the majority of the respondents (195, or 66.4%) traveled outside the city/country; 210 respondents (71.7%) used public transportation such as online and public transport; 54 respondents (18.4%) were in the area with an infected patient. This survey also includes the parameters of mask wearing, social distancing, avoiding hand contact, paying in cash, washing hands before or after touching an object, visiting outdoor activities, soaking the clothes after arriving home, and chronic disease history. This research concludes that positive confirmed cases in Medan city demonstrate a fluctuating trend in the infected COVID-19 cases from the respondents with frequent travel history.

Investigation of the effectiveness of antimicrobial photocatalyst-coated hand-contact surfaces in passenger transport vehicles under everyday conditions

The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic affects all aspects of public life. Measures for infection prevention are implemented in various sectors, in businesses, as well as in private life. Public transport is important and indispensable in daily life for both children and adults. Public transport companies have to take necessary actions to protect passengers and drivers from infections. Skin contact is one of the ways of transmitting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This research study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a photocatalytic, antimicrobial active surface coating under everyday – not hospital – conditions. To date, such coatings have been used in hospitals as an additional measure to regular cleaning and disinfection in order to reduce the risk of infection. We collected samples for bacterial cultures in three classes of public transport vehicles: bus, underground, and tram. Seven different hand-contact surfaces in one vehicle of each class were coated, while the other vehicles remained uncoated. All vehicles were in regular use. The number of colony-forming bacterial units per cm2 (CFUs/cm2) was measured. A representative number of isolates were differentiated at the pathogen level. Data collected were entered into GraphPad Prism (GraphPad Software, San Diego, USA) and analyzed. Overall, no statistically significant reduction in the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) was observed for coated versus uncoated surfaces. Samples with a very high colony count (>250 CFU/25 cm2) were equally distributed in both groups, coated and uncoated vehicles. Within one vehicle type, there was no significant difference between the coated and the uncoated vehicle. No relevant infection-preventive effect could be proven.

Prevalence of Occupational Contact Dermatitis and its related Factors among Surgical Technologists in Five Educational Centers of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Occupational skin diseases and hand contact dermatitis specifically are among the most common occupational diseases among the healthcare workers. Since surgical technologists have contact with allergens and irritant substances are more susceptible to hand contact dermatitis. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of occupational hand contact dermatitis and effective factors among surgical technologists in five educational centers affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted over 125 surgical technologists working in the hospitals affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences who were selected via census sampling. Later, 97 participants who met the inclusion criteria were investigated. Data were collected by Nordic Occupational Skin questionnaire (NOSQ-2002) through interview and analyzed by SPSS software version 23. Results: The findings indicated that 68% of the examined technologists were female and 57.7% were over 37 years old. The prevalence of hand dermatitis was 45.4% (44 people). The highest prevalence was observed at the back of hands (24.7%) and between fingers (17.5%). Contact hand dermatitis had a significant correlation with the participants’ gender (p = 0.002), work experience (p = 0.028), and frequency of hand washes (p = 0.021). Moreover, having a history of eczema and allergy (P-Value≤ 0.01) was significantly effective in increasing hand contact dermatitis. Conclusion: The prevalence of hand contact dermatitis is high among surgical technologists. Therefore, hospital managers are required to plan for preventive measures and control the current situation. Furthermore, future researchers are recommended to carry out more studies on allergic dermatitis.

Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study

(1) Background: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of hand-to-environment contact (HEC) and identify the influencing factors of HEC behavior during the indoor daily life of Korean older adults in senior welfare centers. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was used with 30 participants over 65 years of age attending programs in senior welfare centers. Video recordings of the 30 participants were collected for two hours a day for participants selected from 20 November to 4 December 2018. Contact frequency, density, and duration were measured. (3) Results: Video recordings of 3,930 HEC cases were analyzed. Furniture surface (25.0%), tableware and cooking utensils (5.4%), phones (5.3%), and door handles (0.1%) were found to be the items with the most frequent contact, in this order. The average contact frequency and contact density (frequency-duration/min/person) of HEC for two hours were highest for the Category I equipment (personally used, accounting for 70.4%), and the average contact duration of HEC was highest in the Category III equipment (commonly used, 47.7 s/contact/person). Contact density was as high as 266.5 (frequency-duration/min/person). Participants above 75 years of age and the unemployed showed high HEC with Category III. (4) Conclusions: Older adults need to be educated to avoid unnecessary hand contact with items in Category III. In particular, hand hygiene and sanitization through the regular and thorough disinfection of furniture surfaces and shared equipment are very important to prevent the spread of pathogens.

Bacterial contamination of Nigerian currency notes: A comparative analysis of different denominations recovered from local food vendors

Microbial transmission, on the surface of any currency note, can either be through direct (hand-to-hand contact) or indirect (food or other inanimate objects) means. To ascertain the degree of bacterial load enumerated during the handling of money and food items, particularly on currency note by denominations, should be of public health importance. Despite the available literature regarding microbial contamination of Nigerian currency notes, there is still paucity of information about how microbial contamination/load differ across the denominations specific to different food vendors. In this context, therefore, the current study investigated bacterial contamination of Nigerian currency notes via a comparative study of different denominations (₦1,000, ₦500, ₦200, ₦100, ₦50, ₦20, and 10, and ₦5) recovered from local food vendors. Specifically, the different food handlers/vendors included fruit, meat, vegetable, fish, and grain/cereal sellers. All emergent data from 8 × 5 factorial design of experiment were of duplicate measurements. To consider the currency denominations and food vendor type, a one-factor-at-a-time analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted. Results showed that about 81.7% of currency notes were contaminated with either Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. or Staphylococcus spp. in varying degrees. The higher denominations of ₦500, ₦200, and ₦100 note, with the exception of ₦1,000 note, recorded increased degree of contamination over the lower denominations of ₦50, ₦20, ₦10, and ₦5 note. Based on the total viable count (TVC), the ₦100 currency note appeared the most contaminated (1.32 × 105 cfu/ml) whereas ₦5 note appeared the least contaminated (1.46 × 104 cfu/ml). The frequency of isolated bacteria on currency notes from vegetable, meat, and fish sellers were significantly higher (p < 0.05) compared to other food vendors. The degree of bacterial contamination of the current work appears chiefly dependent on the food vendor type and currency denomination(s). This work calls for increased awareness and education among food vendors and ready-to-eat food sellers. Doing this would help mitigate the possible cross-contamination between currency notes and foodstuff. Through this, consumers would know more about the potential health risks such simultaneous activities (of handling currency notes and foodstuff) do pose on food safety.

What’s in a Handshake? Exploring the Best Form of Greeting to Prevent Hand to Hand Spread of Viruses

Background: Respiratory and enteric viruses are highly contagious pathogens that can be spread by contaminated hands and surfaces. We hypothesized that alternatives to handshake greetings that reduce the time and surface area of hand contact would be associated with decreased transfer of viral particles. Methods: In a simulation of hand-contact greetings, volunteers (N = 22) used a keyboard contaminated with the benign bacteriophage MS2 and then performed a handshake and fist bump with additional volunteers. To assess viral transfer, hands were cultured for MS2, and plaque-forming units (PFU) were compared for the different types of hand contact. Additional simulations (N = 10) were conducted to compare viral transfer with the fist bump versus a cruise tap greeting (ie, a modified fist bump involving single knuckle contact). Results: The handshake greeting resulted in significantly greater transfer of MS2 than the fist bump (1.31 vs 0.54 log10 PFUs, P < .001) (Fig. 1A), but the frequency of transfer of virus was high for both greetings (91% transfer by handshake vs 59% by fist bump). The cruise-tap greeting did not result in reduced transfer of viral particles in comparison to the fist bump (Fig. 1B), and the frequency of transfer remained high (70%). Conclusions: The fist-bump and cruise-tap greetings could potentially reduce transmission of viruses in comparison to the handshake, but transfer occurred frequently, even with these greeting methods. To eliminate hand-to-hand transmission of respiratory and enteric viruses, alternative greeting methods that do not involve physical contact are needed.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

Side effects of using disinfectants to fight COVID-19

Coronavirus refers to a group of widespread viruses. The name refers to the specific morphology of these viruses because their spikes look like a crown under an electron microscope. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered crown-shaped virus. Human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus is through coughing, sneezing, discharge from the nose and mouth. The virus can be transmitted from 1 to 2 meters through coughing or sneezing. Another way of transmission is by hand contact with the environment and virus-infected surfaces. Various substances are used to disinfect the body and surfaces. However, improper and unsafe use of these disinfectants can lead to other toxic effects in people that can be far more dangerous than the virus itself.

Finger licking good? An observational study of hand hygiene practices of fast food restaurant employees and consumers

Purpose Appropriate hand hygiene technique is a simple and effective method to reduce cross contamination and transmission of foodborne pathogens. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the frequency of hand hygiene activities among food handlers and consumers in fast food restaurants (FFRs). Design/methodology/approach A total of 25 FFRs and cafes were visited between May and August 2017 in North West England. A hand hygiene observational tool was adapted and modified from previous studies. The observational tool was designed to record 30 sequential hand activities of consumers and employees. Each transaction consisted of an observed action (e.g. touch with bare hands), object (e.g. exposed ready-to-eat (RTE) foods) and observed hand hygiene practice (e.g. handwashing or cleaning with wipes or sanitisers). Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) swabs of hand-contact surfaces of restaurants’ restrooms were carried out. Findings Findings revealed that both food handlers and consumers have low-hand hygiene compliance rate in FFRs. Consumers were more likely to clean their hands with napkins after handling exposed RTE food. Food handlers were observed to change into new gloves without washing their hands before handling exposed RTE food. The mean results for all hand-contact surfaces in restrooms were higher than 30 Relative Light Units indicating unhygienic surfaces. Male restroom exit doors’ ATP levels were significantly higher than females. Originality/value This study revealed the lack of hand hygiene practices among food handlers and consumers at FFRs and cafes. Restroom hand-contact surfaces revealed high ATP level indicating unhygienic surfaces. This can potentially re-contaminate washed hands upon touching unhygienic surface (e.g. exit door panel/handle) when leaving the restroom.