Transfer of bacteria from fabrics to hands and other fabrics: development and application of a quantitative method using Staphylococcus aureus as a model.

A paper on the development and application of a quantitative laboratory model for assessing the transfer of Staphylococcus aureus from bleached and undyed fabrics to fingerpads or other pieces of fabric. They found that bacterial transfer from moist fabrics to moist fabric or fingerpads was always higher than that to and from dry ones. Bacterial transfer from polycotton was consistently higher than all-cotton fabric. The authors conclude that these results will be used to develop better models to assess the role of fabrics may play as vehicles for infectious agents and risk reduction from their laundering or decontamination. Journal of Applied Microbiology 2001;90:962-970.