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Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1985 Apr;21(4):652–653. doi: 10.1128/jcm.21.4.652-653.1985

Survival of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria artificially applied on the hands.

P P Gontijo Filho, M Stumpf, C L Cardoso
PMCID: PMC271743  PMID: 3988907

Abstract

We evaluated the survival of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus, derived from either hospitalized patients or culture collections, on the fingertips of human volunteers. Over 99% of the bacteria died within 2 min of the application, and about 10(5) cells remained on the fingers for up to 90 min.

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Selected References

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