Healthcare Personnel Attire (HPA) - Your Opinion on the Dirty Facts - What's on Your Radar?

Awareness and Knowledge Check

Peer Reviewed Literature Awareness, Knowledge of various types of Healthcare Personnel Attire (HPA) in Non-Operating-Room Settings, Knowledge of potential risks and mitigation options, Knowledge of the Dirty Facts behind HPA - and Home Laundering Risks

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* 1. I am aware of the following regarding contamination on healthcare apparel (check all that apply)

50% of doctors' neckties carry infectious bacteria - Nurkin et. al ICAAC 2009; Edmond CIC 2010

60% of clinician uniforms are contaminated with potentially infectious bacteria - Am J InfectControl 2011, 39: 555-9

Clothing and linens can contribute to MRSA outbreaks - J Infect Chemother 2003 June; 9 (2) 172-7

Bacteria like MRSA, can survive on fabrics for more than 1 month / VRE can survive on polyester for up to 90 days - J Clin Microbiol 2000; 38:724-726.

Bacteria like VRE can be transferred to and from fabrics and people - Am J Infect Control. 2000 Aug;28(4):311-3.

Fabrics are a reservoir for bacteria and have been found to contribute to A. baumannii outbreaks Journal of Hospital Infection 2002; 50: 110-114.

89% worn resident scrubs were colonized with bacteria compared to 41% of unworn scrubs. Krueger et. al

S. aureus can survive from 10-26 days, P. aeruginosa from 18-98 days, E. coli from 7-48 days, and E. faecalis from 8-10 days - Chacko et. al

Coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2) remains infectious on polyester fabric for at least 72 hours, 100% cotton for 24 hours and a blended polycotton (50/50) for six hours. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-56171006

Coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2) transfers to other surfaces from polyester fabric for up to 72 hours, suggesting that textiles may pose a fomite transmission risk within the healthcare and domestic environments. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-56171006

Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridiodes difficile and vancomycin-resistant enterococci have been detected on uniforms both before and after a span of duty - doi: 10.1053/jhin.2001.0962.

Other (please specify)

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* 2. I am aware of the following regarding laundering of health care apparel (check all that apply)

Home laundering water (140°F) and dryer (155°F) temperatures cannot meet CDC required temperatures for healthcare laundry (160°F) - AATCC LPI-2018e and CDC Environmental Guidelines

Home laundering practices do not eliminate enteric and respiratory viruses from clothes and can be readily transferred from contaminated clothes to uncontaminated clothes. One item can contaminate an entire laundry load. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00688-07

Any apparel worn at the bedside that comes into contact with the patient or patient environment should be laundered after daily use. ICHE Vol. 35, No. 2 The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

Higher bacterial contamination was found on home-laundered HPA compared with healthcare laundered HPA. 44% of home-laundered HPA tested positive for coliform bacteria, compared to 0% of those laundered in a healthcare accredited laundry. Nordstrom et. al

35.7% of scrubs remained MSSA positive after home laundering - Scott et. al

White coat laundering remains low (21%) among physicians - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2019.10.017

In a study of bacterial contamination of home laundered uniforms, 39% of uniforms identified as “clean” at the beginning of the shift were actually found to be contaminated with one or
more microorganisms, including vancomycin resistant enterococci, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridioides difficile - J Hosp Infect. 2001;48(3):238-241.

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* 3. I believe Healthcare worker apparel poses a potential risk for pathogen transmission

Yes

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* 4. Prior to this survey I was aware of the potential dangers of home laundering healthcare worker apparel

Yes

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* 5. I believe clearer guidance and recommended best practices are needed as to the dangers of pathogen transmission of healthcare apparel.

Yes

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* 6. I believe that healthcare workers should change clothing immediately before and after working a shift within the health care facility to prevent cross contamination between work, the community, and my home.

Yes

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* 7. I believe clearer guidance and recommended best practices, or stronger regulations are needed as to the dangers of pathogen transmission from home laundering

Yes

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* 8. I am in favor of my health care facility providing and laundering my work apparel

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

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* 9. I would be interested in further studies and the progress surrounding healthcare personnel attire (HPA) and how they are laundered safely as this topic further develops.

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Other (please specify)

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* 10. Contact (If answered affirmatively to previous question)

Name

Address

Address 2

City/Town

State/Province

ZIP/Postal Code

Country

Email Address