Potentially Pathogenic Microorganisms and Procedures for Hygiene Assurance in Laundries

Abstract

Higiene assurance and cleaness of textiles is the most important aim of laundries for hospital textiles. It is impossible to avoid the presence of microorganisms in the aerea for dirty textiles: microorganisms of different origin, such as fecal microorganisms on bed textiles from old people‘s homes to infected textiles from different hospital departments that contain various pathogenic bacteria, fungi and viruses. Besides microorganisms, these textiles contain resistant soils. The laundering procedure should be efficient enough to eliminate all pathogen and potencial pathogen microorganisms and, at the same time, should not cause excesive damage to the textiles due to large amounts of disinfecting and bleaching agents. After the laundering procedure the textiles should be clean, fresh and have an estethic appearance. Users of hospital textiles are patients with impaired imunity and should not be exposed to inappropriately disinfected textiles. Textiles are disinfected with laundering procedures that should achieve the requirements of chemothermal disinfection. Working areas, technical equipment, storing shelves, transport vehicles and employee‘s hands should be regularly disinfected in order to prevent recontamination with microorganisms in succeeding laundering procedures that include: sorting, ironing, packing. This paper examines the basic pathogenic bacteria and fungi found in laundries, their entryroute in the laundries, the consequences of dissemination and the procedures for eliminating microorganisms in laundries.