Hospital Laundry Procedures Important in Infection Control

Proper laundry processes for healthcare textiles (HCTs) are imperative for achieving and maintaining disinfectant quality in fabrics, according to a new review.

The review, undertaken by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA), was based on findings and recommendations from peer-reviewed studies, as well as contemporary standards and guidelines. According to the review, the industrial laundry processes currently in use successfully achieve microbial reductions via physical, chemical, and thermal actions, and oxidative laundry additives have sufficient potency to meet benchmark standards for sanitizers and disinfectants.

Among the recommendations for optimal HCT infection prevention strategies are adherence to standard precautions (gown and gloves), and minimal textile agitation when handling contaminated laundry in isolation rooms in order to prevent dispersal of potentially infectious aerosols. Offsite industrial laundries should carefully package or cover clean textile bundles prior to transport to prevent inadvertent contamination from dust and dirt during loading and unloading. Laundered HCT must be stored in a manner that keeps them dry and free from contamination.

Laundry additives, such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), peracetic acid, and acetic acid, can provide extra disinfection options for short wash cycles of HCT or for those laundry situations in which chlorine bleach is not indicated. If alterations occur in water temperature, agitation, chemical type and concentration, and duration of laundering cycle, the addition of a disinfecting laundry chemical can compensate for the anticipated loss of antimicrobial effectiveness of the overall process. The review was published online on June 18, 2015, in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

“Current infection prevention strategies for laundering and handling HCT appear to be adequate in preventing healthcare-associated infections, provided that every step is taken to maintain the hygienic quality of HCTs prior to use,” said review author epidemiologist Lynne Sehulster, PhD. “However, if an outbreak occurs linked to HCT, it is not enough to conduct microbial sampling of laundered textiles and declare the laundry process to be the source of the problem. Each of the distinct operations of the laundry-handling process needs to be evaluated in order to pinpoint the root of the problem.”

Related Links:
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention