Microbiological Contamination of Bed Linen

Abstract

Hospital linen is clearly recognized as a potential reservoir for microorganisms and could be a vector of disease transmission. Various species of microorganisms, including some relevant for HAIs, have been isolated from hospital textiles [1, 2]. The aim of the present study was to isolate bacteria from different locations of clean and dirty linen in a surgery department and determine antimirobial resistance. Microbiological samples have been collected on bed linen. The first group consisted of samples taken randomly from clean bed linen (n=60), before patients lay down for scheduled or emergency surgery. The second group consisted of samples taken from the patient's own used bedding (n=60) immediately after he/s left the surgery department. The samples were taken using sterile cotton swabs. From each bed, 3 samples were taken from different locations: pillow, blanket and sheet. The obtained samples were cultured aerobically on selective media. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by discs’ diffusion method. The p value of p<0.05 was considered to be significant. In clean bedding, the microorganisms were isolated by 25 and in used bedding - by 65 percent cases. In order to find out whether the microorganisms increases statistically significantly in used bedding, the McNemar test was performed, which showed that p<0.05. This means that clean bed linen can be contaminated at some point before patients use it. The obtained results showed that out of 60 used linen samples, most microorganisms were isolated from contaminated (86.7%) and dirty (61.9%) surgical wounds. We found that mixed microflora (Staphylococcus epidermidis and bacteria of the genus Bacillus) grew only in bed linen with a contaminated surgical wound. Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and mixed microflora (P. aeruginosa and S. epidermidis) grew exclusively in bedding with a clean surgical wound. The results showed that the prevalence of microorganisms slightly different in bedding locations. From this, we can conclude that microorganisms were equally common in different areas of bedding, both in clean and used bedding. The highest resistance was determined for the antimicrobial - cefaclor (94.4%), while the lowest - for ciprofloxacin (44.4%). After studying the resistance of P. aeruginosa to antimicrobials it was found that half of the microorganisms are sensitive to ciprofloxacin. P. aeruginosa was resistant to all other antimicrobial agents 100 %. This only confirms that the pathogens in the hospital environment have high resistance to the antimicrobials commonly used in the surgical department and are one of the biggest problems these days. During the study, the pathogens of hospital infection were identified: Staphylococous epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. We found microbial growth on clean bedding that had recently been prepared, brought from the laundry and laid out. This means that clean bed linen can be contaminated at some point before patients use it. We isolated these microorganisms from several samples, but they are among the most common microorganisms causing HI infections. Most oportunistic pathogens isolated from the samples correspond to usual members of human skin microflora or to bacteria from the environment. Since it appears that laundry becomes contaminated after washing, actively antimicrobial textiles would be a valuable tool to prevent textiles from becoming a vehicle for the transmission of microorganisms.