Source: Thailand Medical News Sep 28, 2019 5 years, 2 months, 3 weeks, 3 days, 18 hours, 54 minutes ago
New Study Shows Energy Efficient Washing Machines Are Totally Bad When It Comes To Caring For the Health Of Your Loved Ones.
A study by researchers from the University Of Bonn, Germany has revealed that has lower temperatures used in 'energy saver' washing machines may not be killing all pathogens and are in fact not only being reservoirs but can help spread the bacteria. The problem can even be worst in Thailand where most owners never use the hot water mode for washing their laundry and worst are the common laundry machines that are shared by all in various residential projects.
Investigators initially identified a washing machine as a reservoir of multidrug-resistant pathogens. In a hospital setting. The pathogens, a single clone of
Klebsiella oxytoca, were transmitted repeatedly to newborns in a neonatal intensive care unit at a German children's hospital. The transmission was stopped only when the washing machine was removed from the hospital.
The research is published this week in
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Dr Ricarda M. Schmithausen, first author commented in an interview by phone
with Thailand Medical News "This is a highly unusual case for a hospital, in that it involved a household type washing machine. Hospitals normally use special washing machines and laundry processes that wash at high temperatures and with disinfectants, according to the German hospital hygiene guidelines, or they use designated external laundries.”
The research has serious warning implications for household use of washers, said Dr. Schmithausen, Senior Physician, Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, WHO Collaboration Center, University Hospital, University of Bonn, Germany.
Water temperatures used in home washers have been declining, to save energy, to well below 60°C (140°F), rendering them less lethal to pathogens. Resistance genes, as well as different microorganisms, can persist in domestic washing machines at those reduced temperatures, according to the report.
"If elderly people requiring nursing care with open wounds or bladder catheters, or younger people with suppurating injuries or infections live in the household, laundry should be washed at higher temperatures, or with efficient disinfectants, to avoid transmission of dangerous pathogens. This is a growing challenge for hygienists, as the number of people receiving nursing care from family members is constantly increasing." Warned Dr Martin Exner, Chairman and Director of the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, WHO Collaboration Center, University Hospital/University of Bonn.
The hospital where the washing machine transmitted
K. oxytoca, standard screening procedures revealed the presence of the pathogens on infants in the ICU. The researchers ultimately traced the source of the pathogens to the washing machine, after they had failed to find contamination in the incubators or to find carriers among healthcare workers who came into contact with the infants.
The newborns were in the ICU due mostly to premature birth or unrelated infection.The clothes that transmitted
K. oxytoca from the washer to the infants were knitted caps and socks to help keep them warm in incubators, as newborns can quickly become cold, even in incubators.
The investigators assume that the pathogens "were disseminated to the clothing after the washing process, via residual water on the rubber mantle of the washer and/or via the final rinsing process, which ran unheated and detergent-free water through the detergent compartment, implicating the design of the washers, as well as the low heat, according to the report. The study implies that changes in washing machine design and processing are required to prevent the accumulation of residual water where microbial growth can occur and contaminate clothes.
The infants in the intensive care units (ICU) were colonized, but not infected by
K. oxytoca. Colonization means that pathogens are harmlessly present, either because they have not yet invaded tissues where they can cause disease, or because the immune system is effectively repelling them. The type of multidrug resistance in the
K. oxytoca is caused by extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL). These enzymes disable antibiotics called beta lactams. The most common types of bacteria producing ESBLs are Escherichia coli, and bacteria from the genus
Klebsiella.
The implications from this study is enormous as most people never imagine that their washing machines could be harbouring pathogenic bacteria or even helping to spread it.
Also in situations where you have common washing machines shared by many, it could really be a time bomb that could help spread various kinds of pathogenic diseases. In Thailand, you can find many of these at various residential projects, apartments and condos.
Another previous study done had also shown that most
detergents that claim to be antibacterial were actually anything but that, including some claiming to contain
silver ions.
Considering the fact that many local Thais are infected with various strains of herpes, hepatitis and other STD and HPV diseases, and despite the fact that most of these are viral and not bacteria based diseases, their weakened immunity systems could be it a perfect “laboratory for common pathogenic bacteria that can cause various topical skin diseases, respiratory diseases or even other infectious diseases etc to even evolve to create newer mutated strains that can be spread via the
energy efficient washing machines. It is advisable to rethink your whole laundry regimens and also the type of washing machines you are using.
Reference:
The washing machine as a reservoir for transmission of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (CTX-M-15)-producing Klebsiella oxytoca ST201 in newborns , American Society for Microbiology Journal Ricarda M. Schmithausen, Esther Sib, Martin Exner, Sylvia Hack, Claudia Rösing, Patrick Ciorba, Gabriele Bierbaum, Mykhailo Savin, Sally F. Bloomfield, Martin Kaase, Anja Jacobshagen, Stefanie Gemein, Jürgen Gebel, Steffen Engelhart, Daniel Exner DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01435-19
