Hospital Textiles, Are They a Possible Vehicle for Healthcare-Associated Infections?
1
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Žitna ulica 15, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
2
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Centre for Textile Care, University of Maribor, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2012, 9(9), 3330-3343; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9093330
Received: 17 August 2012
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Revised: 3 September 2012
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Accepted: 4 September 2012
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Published: 14 September 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Determinants of Infectious Disease Transmission)
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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Keywords:
textile hygiene; disinfection; hospital-acquired infections; inanimate surfaces; infection transmission vehicles
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Fijan, S.; Turk, S.Š. Hospital Textiles, Are They a Possible Vehicle for Healthcare-Associated Infections? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2012, 9, 3330-3343. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9093330
AMA Style
Fijan S, Turk SŠ. Hospital Textiles, Are They a Possible Vehicle for Healthcare-Associated Infections? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2012; 9(9):3330-3343. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9093330
Chicago/Turabian StyleFijan, Sabina, and Sonja Šostar Turk. 2012. "Hospital Textiles, Are They a Possible Vehicle for Healthcare-Associated Infections?" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 9, no. 9: 3330-3343. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9093330
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