Highlights
- •Microbes, particularly molds, on linens pose risks to specific patient populations.
- •Suboptimal handling of cleaned health care textiles may result in contamination.
- •Contamination could occur at the laundry or health care facility.
- •This report includes checklists to assess laundry and health care facilities.
Key Words
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Subscribe to American Journal of Infection ControlReferences
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Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Processing of Reusable Surgical Textiles For Use in Health Care Facilities. ANSI/AAMI ST65:2008 (R2018). Arlington, VA.
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170-2021. Ventilation of Health Care Facilities. 2021.
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Association for Linen Management. Education and Training. Access date: January 10, 2022. https://www.almnet.org/page/EducationTraining.
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CDC. Reduce Risk from Water. Accessed January 1, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/hai/prevent/environment/water.html.
Association for Linen Management. Advancing excellence in the textile care industry through education, certification, and best practices. Accessed January 11, 2022. https://www.almnet.org/.
- Prevalence of immunosuppression among US Adults, 2013.JAMA. 2016; 316: 2547-2548
Article Info
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Conflicts of interest: The authors report no potential conflicts of interest. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Arkansas Department of Health. This activity was reviewed by CDC and was conducted consistent with applicable federal law and CDC policy (see e.g., 45 C.F.R. part 46.102(l)(2), 21 C.F.R. part 56; 42 U.S.C. §241(d); 5 U.S.C. §552a; 44 U.S.C. §3501 et seq.).
Funding: We received no specific funding for this work.
