Infection prevention practices and the use of medical tapes

Background: Medical tapes are ubiquitous in healthcare and there are currently no guidelines for their stor-age and use. Tapes cannot be cleaned or disinfected; yet, several clinicians may use a given roll for any num-ber of patients. Reports of tape contamination associated with clinical infection have been published. Purpose: We reviewed the literature reporting microbiological studies, case reports of infections, and noso-comial outbreaks associated with the use of medical tapes and other adhesive devices to assess the preva-lence of this problem. Methods: We conducted a literature search for cross-contamination due to medical tape use in 6 databases in June 2020 using indexing terms for surgical tape, adhesive agent, adhesives or the keyword for tape. We compiled available evidence on tape contamination as a cause for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Main findings: Forty-two publications reported relevant microbiological studies, case reports of infections, and/or nosocomial outbreaks. Results demonstrated that tape rolls handled with questionable practices can harbor pathogens. Some studies showed the association between contaminated tape and HAIs, which in some cases even led to death. Conclusions: The time has come to establish national guidelines to help reduce the risk of cross-contamina-tion from medical tapes. We offer suggested elements for these guidelines. The COVID-19 pandemic brings greater scrutiny to eliminate any avoidable cause of infection transmission. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)