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Review
. 2012 Sep 14;9(9):3330-43.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph9093330.

Hospital textiles, are they a possible vehicle for healthcare-associated infections?

Sabina Fijan  1 , Sonja Šostar Turk
Affiliations
Review

Hospital textiles, are they a possible vehicle for healthcare-associated infections?

Sabina Fijan et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Textiles are a common material in healthcare facilities; therefore it is important that they do not pose as a vehicle for the transfer of pathogens to patients or hospital workers. During the course of use hospital textiles become contaminated and laundering is necessary. Laundering of healthcare textiles is most commonly adequate, but in some instances, due to inappropriate disinfection or subsequent recontamination, the textiles may become a contaminated inanimate surface with the possibility to transfer pathogens. In this review we searched the published literature in order to answer four review questions: (1) Are there any reports on the survival of microorganisms on hospital textiles after laundering? (2) Are there any reports that indicate the presence of microorganisms on hospital textiles during use? (3) Are there any reports that microorganisms on textiles are a possible source infection of patients? (4) Are there any reports that microorganisms on textiles are a possible source infection for healthcare workers?

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