When textiles are heavily contaminated with potentially infective body substances, they can contain bacterial loads of 10 6 –10 8 CFU/100 cm 2 of fabric. Epidemiology and General Aspects of Infection ControlĬontaminated textiles and fabrics often contain high numbers of microorganisms from body substances, including blood, skin, stool, urine, vomitus, and other body tissues and fluids. The control measures described in this section of the guideline are based on principles of hygiene, common sense, and consensus guidance they pertain to laundry services utilized by health-care facilities, either inhouse or contract, rather than to laundry done in the home.
Therefore, use of current control measures should be continued to minimize the contribution of contaminated laundry to the incidence of health-care associated infections. When the incidence of such events are evaluated in the context of the volume of items laundered in health-care settings (estimated to be 5 billion pounds annually in the United States), 1246 existing control measures (e.g., standard precautions) are effective in reducing the risk of disease transmission to patients and staff. 1245 Although contaminated textiles and fabrics in health-care facilities can be a source of substantial numbers of pathogenic microorganisms, reports of health-care associated diseases linked to contaminated fabrics are so few in number that the overall risk of disease transmission during the laundry process likely is negligible. Laundry in a health-care facility may include bed sheets and blankets, towels, personal clothing, patient apparel, uniforms, scrub suits, gowns, and drapes for surgical procedures.
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