[Bacteriological study of hygienic conditions in the Department of Blood Diseases and Tumors of the Paul Brousse Hospital at Villejuif. I. The atmospheric flora].

Admission to hospital considerably increases the risk of cross infection. The sources of contamination are of exogenous origin (airborne flora) or endogenous (intestinal flora). Because of the great susceptibility of immunosuppressed patients to microbial agents, it is essential to treat them in a special environment in which there is rigorous attention to hygiene and asepsis. In order to ensure these optimal conditions have been attained, we have made a bacteriological survey for several months in the Service des Maladies Sanguines et Tumorales of the Paul Brousse Hospital, Villejuif. The first part of the survey has given an assessment of the efficiency of the positive pressure air filtration system in one of the units on the Service. Although it should not be neglected, the airborne microbial flora appears to have only a slight effect on the development of infections in our patients. By contrast, the endogenous flora is the main source of infection. Apart from infection via intravenous drips, it is essentially transmitted by direct contact with the nurses' hands or via a variety of instruments. On account of its importance the direct transmission will be described in the second part of this report.