Healthcare laundries are effective at preventing the spread of infection, according to an article on the Healio website.
“Recent innovations in the laundry industry have led to major advances in laundry equipment, laundry chemicals, fiber and fabric technology, and laundry facility design and engineering,” Lynne M. Sehulster, PhD, infectious disease epidemiologist at the CDC, wrote in a research review published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
The study looked at 12 healthcare textiles-related outbreaks in the last 43 years. Seven occurred during the summer as the result of contamination from Bacillus cereus.
Causes for the outbreaks included contaminated washing machines; improper wash cycles or water temperatures or issues regarding reused water (58%); textile storage conditions that promoted growth of microbial pathogens (33%); and the contamination of textiles during transit from the laundry facility to the hospital (8%), the article said.
The Growing Crisis in Rural Healthcare Facilities
A Cleaning Alternative: The Benefits of Steam Technology
Novant Health Gets Approval for New Hospital and Freestanding Emergency Department
Preparing Healthcare Facilities for Severe Thunderstorms
University of South Carolina Opens New Brain Health Center