Plus-Hex CLINICAL
Table 1 . Number of bacterial colonies cultured from samples taken with sterile swabs from 10 dogs , grown on blood agar plates and read after 24 hours and 48 hours .
Dog ID 24 hours , unclipped 24 hours , clipped 48 hours , unclipped 48 hours , clipped # 1 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) 0 ( R ) 1 ( L ) # 2 1 ( L ) 0 ( R )** 1 ( L ) 0 ( R )** # 3 0 ( L ) 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) 0 ( R ) # 4 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) 1 ( R ) 0 ( L ) # 5 0 ( R ) 1 ( L ) 3 ( R ) 1 ( L ) # 6 1 ( L ) 0 ( R ) 1 ( L ) 0 ( R ) # 7 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) # 8 0 ( L ) 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) 0 ( R ) # 9 0 ( L ) 1 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) 1 0 ( R ) # 10 0 ( R ) 0 ( L ) 0 ( R ) 0 ( L )
Clipped , sample taken from clipped leg ; unclipped , sample taken from unclipped leg ; ( L ), left leg ; ( R ), right leg ; 1 , dog moved and had to be disinfected again ; **, erythema .
One bacterial colony was detected in three samples . All three colonies came from samples taken from the left leg . The remaining 17 samples showed no growth of bacteria after 24 hours . Significantly fewer bacterial colonies grew after disinfection compared with before disinfection , after both 24 hours ( p = 0.006 ) and 48 hours ( p = 0.009 ) of incubation . Overall , the presence of bacteria was significantly lower after disinfection . There was no statistically significant difference in bacterial prevalence between the clipped and unclipped legs after either 24 hours ( p = 0.28 ) or 48 hours ( p = 0.28 ).
When the plates were examined after 48 hours , bacteria were detected in samples from four dogs before clipping and from two dogs after clipping ( Table 1 ). The number of colonies per sample with bacterial growth varied between one and three on the unclipped leg . In addition , only one colony was detected in each of the two samples from a clipped leg . In the remaining 14 samples , after 48 hours , no growth of bacteria could be detected . Based on the examination and analysis of bacterial cultures from samples taken during the first week , no statistically significant difference in bacterial presence was seen after 24 hours ( p = 0.29 ) or 48 hours ( p = 0.08 ).
In the second week of the study , bacteria were detected in samples taken before disinfection from unclipped sampling sites on nine dogs , after 24 hours of incubation . Bacteria were also detected in samples taken from the clipped legs of eight of the dogs before disinfection . The mean value of the number of colonies on samples taken before disinfection was 7.4 . No bacterial growth could be detected after 24 hours from either the clipped or unclipped legs after disinfection ( Table 2 , page 34 ) in samples taken during the second week .
After 48 hours of incubation , bacteria were detected in samples taken before disinfection from nine unclipped legs and nine clipped legs ( Table 2 ). The mean number of colonies on samples taken before disinfection after 48 hours was 14.5 ; the median for clipped legs was 3.0 and the median for unclipped legs was 6.5 .
After disinfection , no bacteria were detected in samples taken from unclipped legs , while in samples from clipped legs , two colonies were observed in the same sample after 48 hours . No growth of bacteria was seen in the remaining 19 samples taken after disinfection , after 48 hours .
Overall , in samples taken during the second week , using the updated method , there was no statistically significant difference between those taken from clipped and unclipped legs before disinfection , after either 24 hours ( p = 0.07 ) or 48 hours ( p = 0.13 ) of incubation ( Table 2 ). The median number of colonies in the samples taken after disinfection was 0 , on clipped and unclipped legs and in total .
Following the final examination of the bacterial cultures on blood agar plates from samples collected during the second week , a one-sided , paired t-test was conducted on all samples collected during the first and second weeks ( Tables 1 and 2 ). This showed one colony on a clipped leg and two colonies on unclipped legs , and no bacterial growth on the remaining 37 samples after 24 hours , in samples collected after disinfection .
Furthermore , examination of the cultures made with samples collected after disinfection showed a total of four bacterial colonies on clipped legs , divided into
Volume 40 ( 1 ) • February 2025
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