ArticleInfection2024
Hygiene practices and antibiotic resistance among dental and medical students: a comparative study.
Article in Infection, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Study on the Importance of Hygienic Hand Disinfection of Dental Practitioners and Students as an Infection Control Measure in Dental Practice.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Healthcare Workers' Knowledge, Awareness, and Practices Regarding Antimicrobial Use, Resistance, and Stewardship in Saudi Arabia.Infection and drug resistance · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeHealthcare students' hand and smartphone hygiene is critical due to potential pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria transmission. This study evaluates hygiene practices in medical and dental students at Kuwait University, exploring antibiotic resistance gene prevalence.
methodsSwab samples were collected from the hands and smartphones of 32 medical and 30 dental students. These samples were cultured on Columbia Blood Agar and McConkey Agar plates to quantify bacterial colony-forming units (CFUs). The extracted DNA from these colonies underwent RT-PCR to identify antibiotic resistance genes, including tem-1, shv, blaZ, and mecA. Additionally, a questionnaire addressing hygiene practices was distributed post-sample collection.
resultsMedical students exhibited more frequent hand hygiene compared to dental students (P ≤ 0.0001). Although significantly fewer bacterial CFUs were found on medical students' smartphones (mean = 35 ± 53) than dental students' (mean = 89 ± 129) (P ≤ 0.05), no significant differences were observed in CFU counts on their hands (medical: mean = 17 ± 37; dental: mean = 96 ± 229). Detection of at least one of the targeted antibiotic resistance genes on medical (89% hands, 52% smartphones) and dental students' (79% hands, 63% smartphones) was not statistically significant. However, the prevalence of two genes, tem-1 and shv, was significantly higher on medical students' hands (78% and 65%, respectively) than on dental students' hands (32% and 28%, respectively).
conclusionClinically significant prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes were found on medical and dental students' hands and smartphones, emphasizing the importance of ongoing education regarding hand hygiene and smartphone disinfection. This continuous reinforcement in the curriculum is crucial to minimizing the risk of cross-contamination.
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Registered trials
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