Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2016) 5(7): 353-363 353 Original Research Article http://dx.doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2016.507.038 Microbial Flora on Medical Students’ White Coat and an Analysis of its Associated Factors: A Cross Sectional Study Trupti B. Naik 1* , Amruthkishan Upadhya 2 , Vijaykumar Mane 3 and Asmabegaum Biradar 4 1,2 Department of Microbiology, Subbaiah Institute of Medical Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India 3 Department of Community Medicine, Koppal Institute of Medical Sciences, Koppal, Karnataka, India 4 Department of Microbiology, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, Karnataka, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also known as nosocomial infections, constitute a significant hazard for patients and their families visiting a healthcare facility. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines HAI as an infection occurring in a patient in a Health care facility in whom the infection was not present or was incubating at the time of admission. This includes infections acquired in the hospital but appearing after discharge, and also occupational infections among staff of the facility (Uneke et al., 2010). HAIs are a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also known as nosocomial infections, constitute a significant hazard for patients and their families visiting a healthcare facility. Transmission of these infections has been associated with transient harboring of pathogens in health care workers and students clothing including white coats. 1) To study the bacteriological profile of medical students white coats. 2) To study the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of these microbial isolates. 3) To study the perception, usage and handling practices of white coats among medical students and their relationship with white-coat contamination. A cross sectional study was conducted among 2 nd year medical students, in the Department of Microbiology at a tertiary care hospital in Shivamogga, Karnataka. A pretested and semi structured questionnaire was administered to collect relevant data and swabs were taken from the lower edge of the front of white coat and processed according to standard microbiological procedures. Out of 96 white coats, 61 (63.54%) were contaminated. Maximum isolates were Coagulase negative Staphylococci 32 (52.45%) followed by Micrococci 15 (24.59%). None of the handling/washing practices of white coats were found to be significantly associated with contamination in our study. Further research in this area is recommended to identify factors responsible for contamination of white coats. Keywords Bacterial contamination, Hospital acquired infection, Medical students, White coats. Accepted: 12 June 2016 Available Online: 10 July 2016 Article Info International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 5 Number 7 (2016) pp. 353-363 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com