Purifas® FaceShield™ Swabs Research

Is there a risk of cross infection? Our research shows there is.

In August 2019, we randomly swabbed the internal aspect of the face hole of five therapy beds from five different private clinics across Australia for analysis.

Four out of five of these beds were using a terry towelling cover, as well as the current x-cut and round-cut paper-based head sheets (brand unknown) as standard practice.

The fifth clinic was not using any bed cover but was using a paper towel as the barrier between the client and the bed around the face hole.

The findings were as follows:

• One out of five was positive for rhinovirus (the common cold virus)
• Two out of five were positive for Staphylococcus aureus – one of which was a strand resistant to most antibiotics
• All five beds showed moderate to large quantities of non-harmful bacteria, including but not limited to, skin cells and skin flora.

As a consumer’s mucosal surfaces (eyes, nose and mouth) can be exposed to this bacteria when lying face down on a therapy bed, their susceptibility to cross infection and illness increases without suitable infection control and prevention practices.