How clean is “hygienically clean”: Quantitative microbial levels from samples of clean health care textiles across the United States - 23/04/19
, Linda Fairbanks bHighlights |
• | Contaminated textiles can be a source of health care–associated infections. |
• | Hygienically clean linen samples were collected at 2 separate points in time. |
• | Textile samples were cultured using United States Pharmacopeia 61 pour plate method. |
• | Seventy-three percent had bacterial counts higher than expected versus 19% for fungal counts. |
• | Median counts for bacterial and fungal levels were 250 colony-forming units and 20 colony-forming units, respectively. |
Résumé |
Background |
In the United States, the laundry industry has not reliably measured microbial levels on hygienically clean textiles. The aim of this study was to quantitatively measure the microbial levels found on a sample of hygienically clean textiles.
Methods |
Forty-eight health care textile samples were collected from hygienically clean linen scheduled to be used on 3 different patient care units. Samples were taken at 2 separate points in time representing laundry facility processing practices and hospital linen management practices. United States Pharmacopeia 61 testing was completed using a pour plate culturing method, producing a total aerobic microbial count and a total yeast and mold count.
Results |
Of the samples, only 27% had a total aerobic microbial count below the expected 100 colony-forming unit level (range, 9-40,000) versus 81% (range, 9-1,000) for total yeast and mold count. Median microbial counts for the 2 separate time points across the 3 different patient care units were also higher than expected.
Conclusions |
As far as we know, this study is a first step by the laundry industry to understand what quantitative microbial levels are currently found on hygienically clean health care textiles. These types of data can assist the industry in establishing appropriate outcome targets for process improvement initiatives.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Key Words : Patient care linen, Culture, Laboratory testing, Microbial CFU, Microorganisms
Plan
| Funding/support: The following companies provided financial or resource support (sterile supplies) to cover the cost of specimen collection and laboratory culturing: Association for Linen Management, Ecolab, U.N.X., Centurion, and Sempermed USA. |
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| Conflicts of interest: None to report. |
Vol 47 - N° 5
P. 509-514 - mai 2019 Retour au numéro
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