Brief ReportThe role of chiropractic adjusting tables as reservoirs for microbial diseases
Section snippets
Sampling
Nine chiropractic adjusting tables from the National University outpatient clinic were randomly selected using a lottery and sampled using the ACT II culture transport system (Remel, Lenexa, KS). We opted to run the samples after the clinics' normal hours of operation so that no patients, interns, or clinicians would be conscious of the study and change their normal habits. Briefly, a 4 × 4-inch area of the leather and metallic components of the head, arm, thoracic, and abdominal pieces were
Results
Our results indicate that those surfaces that come into contact with patients' integument do harbor many organisms, including coagulase-positive staphylococci and gram-negative bacilli (Table 1). Two of these isolates in particular were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Other commonly encountered isolates included nonpathogenic environmental fungi representing the species Cladosporium spp, Candida, Penicillium, and Rhodotorula rubra. The number of fungal colony-forming units
Discussion
A majority of the isolates recovered were of the family Micrococcaceae. The two isolates of MRSA is a significant cause of concern. Although these organisms usually cause mild superficial skin infections, they can progress to life-threatening systemic infections that are very difficult to treat. In fact, MRSA is emerging as an important cause of community-acquired skin and soft tissue infections.9 Although most of the isolated microorganisms are ubiquitous in the environment and pose no serious
Conclusions
All of the surfaces sampled on the chiropractic adjusting tables carried microorganisms. Most of these were harmless skin bacteria or environmental fungi. Some of the surfaces did harbor S. aureus, a human pathogen. Some of these strains of Staphylococcus were MRSA. Armrests and uncovered portions of headrests had the highest bacterial counts. The disinfection protocols must therefore address removal of staphylococci from these surfaces to prevent horizontal transmission in the outpatient
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