The Christmas BMJ usually has something to do with infection or infection control. But this year it has excelled, with an article all about bacterial contamination of coffee machines! So, next time you press the magic button for a caffeine hit in the staff room, do you need to think twice? Well, not really – whilst a few possible pathogens were identified, your coffee isn’t likely to give you an antibiotic-resistant bacterium for Christmas!

The microbial study was undertaken in Germany, and 25 in-hospital coffee machines and a further 8 at-home coffee machines belonging to staff working in hospital were sampled using swabs. The majority of coffee machines were contaminated with bacteria – but as the authors acknowledge, we live in a microbial world! Most bacteria identified were environmental bystanders. A few potential human pathogens were identified including S. aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, none of these were resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Since the microbiology results from this study are frankly rather dull, at least the authors spiced things up a bit with some witty sub-headings including “by whatever beans necessary” and “smell the coffee”.

So, pleased to report that you can drink your coffee without fear of contracting a multidrug-resistant bacteria, even in the hospital staff room. However, it’s still not a bad idea to do hand hygiene, de-sludge the coffee machine, and wash your coffee cup every now and then.