Abstract
At a veterinary hospital, the examination table is periodically wiped to maintain hygiene. In this study, we investigated the effect of the management method of towels used for wiping on the wipe-cleaning effect on the examination table, using the number of general viable bacteria on the examination table as an indicator. We asked a private veterinary hospital to participate in our research, and the examination table was wiped using the towel and neutral electrolyzed water, which was a standard method used in that hospital. The towels used for wiping were as follows: (1) towels that have been washed with running water and hand-squeezed and, were repeatedly used to clean the examination table (multiple-use towel) and (2) unused towels that had been laundered (single-use towel). No worsening of the contamination level of the examination table was observed with wiping using single-use towels. However, more trials are required to suggest a significant effect of wiping with single-use towels. In the multiple-use towel group, more than half of the cases showed a worsening of the contamination level of the examination table, and some cases showed a significant worsening of the contamination level. These results suggest that repeated use of towels after washing with water may not be appropriate from a microbiological point of view when wiping the examination table.
https://ror.org/04xtvq436 
