Clostridium difficile contamination of blood pressure cuffs: a call for a closer look at gloving practices in the era of universal precautions.

We report an outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea at our medical center following adoption of Universal Precautions. Environmental cultures revealed unexpected contamination of blood pressure cuffs at a rate similar to that for bedside commodes (10% and 11.5%, respectively). An observational survey revealed that healthcare workers in the patient care areas not infrequently failed to remove their potentially stool-contaminated gloves prior to touching clean surfaces, which might have contributed to contamination of blood pressure cuffs.