Cross-contamination of bugs such as MRSA a risk that should be taken seriously, say experts

Privacy curtains used in patients’ rooms are often rife with drug-resistant microbes, research has revealed.

Experts say that with antimicrobial resistance a growing problem, the possibility of cross-contamination between patients from such sources should be taken seriously.

“Healthcare textiles often fly under our radar,” said Dr Lona Mody, a co-author of the research from the University of Michigan medical centre.

She added that when it comes to curtains, there is often little guidance on good hygiene: “Curtains are touched often before the patient is examined. The patients themselves touch the curtain when they go in and out.”

Bacteria becoming resistant to hospital disinfectants, warn scientists Read more

The research by Mody and colleagues, which will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Amsterdam, involved the team taking samples from the edge of privacy curtains across six nursing homes or rehabilitation units in Michigan.

The first sample was taken when the patient was admitted, and another was taken after two weeks, one month and then every month up to six months later, with 1,521 samples collected in total: most patients stayed less than one month.

Of the 611 curtains sampled when a patient was admitted, researchers found that 28% were contaminated with drug-resistant microbes, with 5% contaminated with MRSA and 17% contaminated with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The team add that 18% of the subsequent 910 samples collected contained drug-resistance microbes, again with VRE the most common.

It is not the first time that privacy curtains have been discovered to be breeding grounds for bacteria. Mody says there needs to be regular cleaning of curtains and that healthcare workers should be sure to adhere to hand hygiene practices. She also suggested other potential solutions, such as redesigning privacy curtains to have removable handles.

A second study presented at the meeting found that tourniquets used in treatment are also often contaminated.

The work, by researchers based in Portugal, involved a review of 20 studies looking at contamination of rubber or fabric bands used in procedures like taking blood or inserting catheters and often re-used between patients.

The results reveal that 441 of almost 1,500 reusable tourniquets were contaminated with coagulase-negative staphylococci, bacteria that are part of the normal microbial community on human skin, but which can cause infections. Other potentially harmful microbes, although less prevalent, included E coli.

The team said 15 of the 20 studies found microbial contamination in more than 70% of the tourniquets sampled.

Dr Nádia Osório, a member of the team from the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, said other work on reusable tourniquets in hospitals had also shed light on the extent of the issues. “The majority of these tourniquets analysed have huge quantities of microorganisms,” she said.

While one solution would be to improve cleaning of tourniquets, Osório said another would be to use disposable versions to prevent microbes being spread from person to person.

Dr Mark Webber, an expert on antimicrobial resistance from the Quadram Institute of Bioscience, said vulnerable people being exposed to harmful microbes was a major problem in the UK and beyond.

“As we find it harder to treat infections due to increasing numbers of antibiotic resistant bugs in hospitals, it’s more important than even to prevent infection happening in the first place,” he said.

The two studies, Webber added, showed that common features of a medical setting might play a role in transmitting pathogens to vulnerable patients. “It suggests we may be able to target these areas for cleaning and disinfection to help stop infection,” he said. “A good example of how effective targeting the right areas can be has been the reduction in MRSA cases in UK hospitals following improved hand hygiene and other relatively simple measures.”

An NHS Improvement spokesperson said: “Infection rates in the NHS are the lowest they’ve ever been thanks to staff’s commitment to keeping wards as clean and infection free as possible.

“Many privacy curtains used in the NHS are anti-microbial which helps to kill or stop the growth of any unwanted bacteria, and for those that aren’t, curtains are replaced or thoroughly laundered if there is any risk that they may contain an infection.”