WHAT DOES A PEN CARRY? ARE YOU AWARE?

Background: Health care associated infections are usually caused by Multidrug resistant bacteria that are associated with morbidity, mortality and excess health care cost. Although microorganisms are most commonly transmitted by the hands of health care workers, materials and articles used in hospitals could also act as fomites in spreading infections. Method: 100 writing pens used by health care workers were screened for the presence of bacteria. Result: Bacteria were isolated from 53 pens of which Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CONS) were the major isolates. Methicillin resistance was observed in Staphylococcus aureus(66.7%) and Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (31.8%).Conclusion: Contamination of writing pens with bacteria as commonly seen in this study can be prevented by hand washing along with regular disinfection of writing pens.