Stethoscopes can be contaminated with serious pathogens like C. difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In laboratory simulation tests researchers found they could transfer the pathogens to agar plates. The good news is that alcohol wipes or gauze moistened with sterile water or alcohol removed more than 90% of the pathogens from the stethoscope diaphrapms.
PositiveTip: Next time your doctor offers to examine you with a stethoscope, you might ask if it has been sanitized!