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From ward to washer: The survival of Clostridium difficile spores on hospital bed sheets through a commercial UK NHS healthcare laundry process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2018

Joanna Tarrant ,
Richard O. Jenkins  and
Katie T. Laird Open the ORCID record for Katie T. Laird [Opens in a new window]
Joanna Tarrant
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Research Group, School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
Richard O. Jenkins
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Research Group, School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
Katie T. Laird
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Research Group, School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
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Abstract

Objective

To quantify the survival of Clostridium difficile spores on hospital bed sheets through the United Kingdom National Health System (UK NHS) healthcare laundry process (Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 01-04) in vitro and on bed sheets from patients with C. difficile through the commercial laundry.

Methods

Clostridium difficile spores were inoculated onto cotton sheets and laundered through a simulated washer extractor cycle using an industrial bleach detergent with sodium hypochlorite 15% and peracetic acid sour 14% (acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide; pH, 2–4). Spore survival on hospital sheets naturally contaminated with C. difficile was also assessed using a washer extractor plus drying and finishing cycles at a commercial laundry.

Patients

Naturally contaminated C. difficile bed sheets were taken from beds of patients that had previously been diagnosed with C. difficile infection (CDI) and had received care on an isolated C. difficile ward.

Results

The simulated washer extractor cycle, with an industrial detergent, demonstrated survival of 2 strains of C. difficile NCTC 11209 (0–4 colony-forming units [cfu] per 25 cm2) and ribotype 001/072 (0–9 cfu per 25 cm2). Before laundering, naturally contaminated bed sheets had an average spore load of 51 cfu per 25 cm2, and after washing, drying, and finishing, the spore load was 33 cfu per 25 cm2. Before and after washing, the C. difficile strain was identified as ribotype 001/072. Both the simulated and in-situ laundering processes failed the microbiological standards of no pathogenic bacteria remaining.

Conclusions

Clostridium difficile spores are able to survive laundering through a commercial washer extractor and may be contributing to sporadic outbreaks of CDI. Further research to establish exposure of laundry workers, patients, and the hospital environment to C. difficile spores from bed sheets is needed.

Type
Original Article
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 39 , Issue 12 , December 2018 , pp. 1406 - 1411
Copyright
© 2018 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. 

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Footnotes

Cite this article: Tarrant J, et al. (2018). From ward to washer: The survival of Clostridium difficile spores on hospital bed sheets through a commercial UK NHS healthcare laundry process. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology 2018, 39, 1406–1411. doi: 10.1017/ice.2018.255

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