By Healthcare Facilities Today

Viable bacteria on hospital towels used for cleaning patient rooms can survive the laundering process, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study was in part funded by Kimberly-Clark.

The study, conducted by Charles Gerba, Ph.D., professor of microbiology, University of Arizona, found that 93 percent of the tested towels had viable bacteria such as E. coli and Klebsiella, which can cause pneumonia and other infections.  Three clean cloth or microfiber towels were randomly selected from 10 Arizona hospitals for testing. The hospitals either laundered the towels in-house or sent them to a central facility.

The study also sampled the inside surface of the bucket used to soak the towels in disinfectant at each hospital and found that in 67 percent viable bacteria were present.

In a related study, the researchers also found that exposing hospital-grade disinfectants containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) to cotton towels for as little as 30 seconds up to 180 minutes reduced the effectiveness of the disinfectant, up to 85.3 percent, says Kimberly-Clark. In addition, the more absorbent microfiber towels were found to have higher levels of bacteria.