Yet, that protection fails them more often than they and their patients realize, according to studies released Thursday. Using newly developed testing procedures that simulate actual conditions in surgery, latex gloves that had passed the manufacturers' standard leak test actually allowed viruses to pass through. The findings are significant considering that 1.2 billion surgical latex gloves are sold in the United States annually.
Latex gloves are the thin line of defense against infection.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that approximately 2 million patients acquire infections each year while hospitalized and more than 77,000 of these patients die as a result of such infections. Medical Device Technologies, a San Diego-based company engaged in licensing, developing and manufacturing specialty medical devices, commissioned the glove studies as part of their effort to increase safety in the operating room and other medical settings where surgical latex gloves are used. Previous studies published in scientific and medical journals showed that more than 400 million out of 1.2 billion surgical gloves used annually in the United States lose their ability to protect against infection during a surgical procedure. These breaches could be caused by a tear, hole or small needle puncture. The problem is that physicians, nurses, dentists and others do not know exactly when their surgical gloves begin to leak, or worse, when the gloves have been punctured.