In this study, “36 pens were tested from six wards affected with MRSA, and 9 of them (25%) were contaminated by the pathogen. The antibiotic resistance patterns of the pen isolates were the same as that of the outbreak strain on the ward concerned. These results confirm Datz and colleagues’ suspicion that staff pens can become contaminated with important nosocomial pathogens.” Also noted was that MRSA, VRE and Klebsiella are well known for transmission via staff hands and that despite frequent hand washing, the staff may “unwittingly re-inoculate their hands with these organisms if they [re] use their pens.”
REFERENCE: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)78182-4/abstract