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Aim: Paper is used for various purposes in hospitals. Generally, there are two different types of paper, which are commonly used in our facility: wood-free paper, and paper containing wood. We compared the recoverable proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA; ATCC 43300) from the surface of such papers. Method: The papers were divided into two groups: Group 1: wood-free paper; Group 2: paper containing wood. The papers were contaminated in a standardized procedure with 0.1 mL of a 5×107 CFU MRSA/mL stock solution. Results: The recoverable proportion of MRSA was higher in the wood-containing papers than in the papers without wood (P=0.043). Conclusion: This study indicates that if paper is purchased for healthcare facilities it should not contain wood, but rather wood-free paper types should be considered., Hintergrund: Papier wird zu unterschiedlichen Zwecken in Krankenhäusern eingesetzt. Grundsätzlich werden zwei unterschiedliche Arten von Papier in unserer Einrichtung verwendet: Papier ohne Holzanteil und Papier mit Anteilen von Holz. In der vorliegenden Studie haben wir die Rückgewinnungsrate von Methicillin-resistentem Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA; ATCC 43300) von der Oberfläche unterschiedlicher Papiere untersucht. Methode: Papier wurde in zwei Gruppen unterteilt: Gruppe 1: Papier ohne Holzanteil; Gruppe 2: Papier mit Holzanteil. Jeweils 1 cm2 große Papierstücke wurden in einem standardisieren Vorgehen mit 0.1 mL einer 5×107 KbE MRSA/mL Ausgangslösung kontaminiert. Ergebnisse: Der rückgewinnbare Anteil an MRSA war von Papier mit Holzanteil größer als von Papier ohne Holzanteil (P=0.043). Schlussfolgerung: Die Studie zeigt, dass Papier mit Holzanteil in Gesundheitseinrichtungen nicht verwendet werden sollte., GMS Hygiene and Infection Control; 11:Doc06

Introduction: Multiple-choice-examinations are still fundamental for assessment in medical degree programs. In addition to content related research, the optimization of the technical procedure is an important question. Medical examiners face three options: paper-based examinations with or without computer support or completely electronic examinations. Critical aspects are the effort for formatting, the logistic effort during the actual examination, quality, promptness and effort of the correction, the time for making the documents available for inspection by the students, and the statistical analysis of the examination results. Methods: Since three semesters a computer program for input and formatting of MC-questions in medical and other paper-based examinations is used and continuously improved at Wuerzburg University. In the winter semester (WS) 2009/10 eleven, in the summer semester (SS) 2010 twelve and in WS 2010/11 thirteen medical examinations were accomplished with the program and automatically evaluated. For the last two semesters the remaining manual workload was recorded. Results: The cost of the formatting and the subsequent analysis including adjustments of the analysis of an average examination with about 140 participants and about 35 questions was 5-7 hours for exams without complications in the winter semester 2009/2010, about 2 hours in SS 2010 and about 1.5 hours in the winter semester 2010/11. Including exams with complications, the average time was about 3 hours per exam in SS 2010 and 2.67 hours for the WS 10/11. Discussion: For conventional multiple-choice exams the computer-based formatting and evaluation of paper-based exams offers a significant time reduction for lecturers in comparison with the manual correction of paper-based exams and compared to purely electronically conducted exams it needs a much simpler technological infrastructure and fewer staff during the exam.