According to a study conducted in France, sinks in hospitals are an underestimated source of contamination by certain bacteria that cause nosocomial infections.
The more than 4000 French people who die each year from a nosocomial infection are they partly victims of the poor hygiene of the sinks in the hospitals? Indeed, according to a study published Thursday by The Journal of Hospital Infection and relayed by the Medical Press Agency sinks are an underestimated source of contamination by Enterobacteriaceae, whichn intensive care unit. Those bacteria are admittedly frequently the cause of nosocomial infections. Transmission often occurs through the contaminated hands of healthcare professionals.
The authors of this research conducted a multicenter study to assess whether preventive measures were taken to avoid infections associated with contamination of sinks in establishments in the Center region. For this, they carried out microbiological tests for a month, in January 2013, in each sink of all the rooms of 13 intensive care units (134 rooms in all). With the result, worrying results.
DYears two units, several sinks presented EBSLE, “which suggests an epidemic spread”, point the finger at the authors. Among these contaminated sinks, most showed Klebsiella, a type of bacteria often the cause of nosocomial infections. In total, 31% of the sinks analyzed showed EBSLE.
To explain these contaminations, the researchers note that dEquipment protecting against splashes was installed on less than 10% of the sinks and the risk of contamination by splashing concerned 36% of the sinks. Moreover, pAmong the units examined, only 75% of the sinks were disinfected daily.
In conclusion of their study, scientists recall the importance of daily disinfection with bleach. They finally point out that dPrevious work has already shown that it is necessary to reduce the water inlet pressure when the patient’s bed is less than two meters from the sink.
According to the 2012 prevalence survey, one in 20 hospitalized patients has one or more nosocomial infections. At the same time, one in 18 European patients contracts at least one daily in hospital revealed in July another European survey.
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