TITLE:
Microbiological Contamination of Bed Linen and Staff Uniforms in a Hospital
AUTHORS:
Anthony Pinon, Jessica Gachet, Virginie Alexandre, Sandra Decherf, Michèle Vialette
KEYWORDS:
Linen; Bed Sheets; White Coat; Contamination; Hospital Acquired Infections
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.3 No.7,
November
26,
2013
ABSTRACT: Hospital linen is clearly recognized as a potential reservoir for
microorganisms and could be a vector of disease transmission. The aim of this
study was to isolate, count and identify fungi and bacteria from different
kinds of clean and dirty linen in a hospital. Microbiological samples have been
collected on clean bed linen (n = 200), dirty bed linen (n = 192) and
staff uniforms (n = 192) by using contact plates. 55% of samples from clean bed linen were
contaminated before contact with the patient, with a mean count of 3 cfu/25 cm2 (range: 1-117 cfu) when contaminated. Virtually all samples from dirty bed
linen carried microorganisms, with a mean count of 23 cfu/25 cm2 (range 1-191 cfu). In addition, staff hospital uniforms showed the highest
contamination rates in the study, with an average of 45 cfu/25 cm2 (range: 1-218 cfu). Microbial species were mostly bacteria commonly found
in the environment or on human skin, such as
staphylococci or micrococci. Nevertheless, 57% of the identified species may be
opportunistic pathogens for humans, representing a risk for people with
a deficient or weakened immune system, especially in cases of superinfection.
Since contamination of linen seems to occur after washing, actively
antimicrobial textiles would represent a valuable measure to prevent textiles
from being a vehicle for transfer of microorganisms.