New research suggests that doctors' coats with shorter sleeves could lessen the risk of spreading superbugs in hospitals and medical facilities. Photo by ragonmages/Shutterstock

FRIDAY, Oct. 6, 2017 -- With antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" continuing to be a threat in U.S. hospitals, doctors are looking for innovative ways to cut down on disease transmission.

Now, research suggests one solution may be within arm's reach -- literally.


Physicians' white coats with sleeves above the elbow were much less likely to have traces of infectious viruses on them than long-sleeved versions, the study found.

"These results provide support for the recommendation that health care personnel wear short sleeves to reduce the risk for pathogen transmission," concluded a team led by Amrita John. She's an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

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According to the team, "physicians' white coats are frequently contaminated, but seldom cleaned."

For that very reason, the United Kingdom already mandates that doctors be "bare below the elbows" as a means of lowering the chance that germs on a dirty coat sleeve will be transmitted to a patient.

But is sleeve length really a factor in the transmission of infections?

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To find out, John's group had health care workers wear either short- or long-sleeved white coats while examining a mannequin with surfaces that had been contaminated with a harmless-but-communicable virus.

The workers then went and examined a second mannequin -- replicating normal hospital "rounds" where doctors might visit numerous patients.

The researchers then tested both the sleeves and the wrists of each worker for a certain "DNA marker" that indicated the presence of the virus.

The result: "contamination with the DNA marker was detected significantly more often on the sleeves and/or wrists when personnel wore long- versus short-sleeved coats," the researchers reported.

In fact, while virus was detected on none of the sleeves or wrists of 20 workers wearing the short-sleeved coats, it was found on one-quarter -- five out of 20 -- of those donning long sleeves.

And in one of those cases, the virus had made its way to the second mannequin -- showing how a doctor's sleeve might transmit germs patient-to-patient.

The findings add weight to the recommendation for short-sleeved coats for physicians, the researchers noted.

Dr. Alan Mensch is a pulmonologist and senior vice president of medical affairs at Northwell Health's Syosset Hospital in Syosset, N.Y. Reviewing the findings, he agreed that keeping in-hospital infections to a minimum is crucial.

"Patients come to the hospital to get well, and it is the hospital's duty to accomplish that without causing a new infection," he said.

He called the new findings "intriguing," but said they also raise many questions.

"Though short sleeves may prevent transmission of [viral] DNA, will they decrease infections?" he wondered. And, "Should we advise health care providers to wash their wrists along with their hands -- and will that decrease infection transmission?"

The findings were presented Oct. 4 in San Diego at ID Week, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Experts note that findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

There's more on protecting yourself from infections in the hospital at the National Patient Safety Foundation.

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