Possible infectious pathogenes hiding place … hospital curtains offer more than privacy!

New research reveals that curtains in hospital wards can be a ‘rendezvous’ place for infectious pathogens, as has recently been published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the  official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

The study showed that the curtains get contaminated in accordance with the period they are used to hang and it also showed that 87.5% had already been contaminated with MRSA, the pathogen which apparently contributes to a substantial number of deaths. When monitored after 21 days, the curtains showed more than 2.5 KVE per centimetre of fabric. As an example: this is far more than is allowed in the food and catering industry. The test curtains that were not used in patient wards, kept clean during the entire period of 21 days. Since none of the patients had MRSA, the conclusion is that MRSA contamination is mainly caused by regular manual contacts with primarily staff members. Consequently, when aiming for sufficient contamination prevention, the curtains on the hospital premises  deserve focus and attention.