Introduction
Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) cause significant problems for hospitals and concerns of cross contamination arise when patients come into contact with items such as uniforms and medical devices in a healthcare setting.
Aim
To determine whether the attachment and survival of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli is affected by textile fibre type for healthcare uniforms
Method
The survival of microorganisms on fibres was assessed by washing an overnight culture of E. coli (NCTC 8003) and S. aureus (NCTC 6538) twice and inoculating 500µl onto cotton or polyester. Fibres were then incubated at 23°C for 8, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168, 240, 336 and 504hrs. Cells were recovered by vortexing in (PBS), spread plating onto nutrient agar and incubating at 37°C for 24hrs.
Cotton and polyester (round, trilobal or pentalobal) fibres were also inoculated with the washed cells and incubated at 23°C for 8, 24, 168 and 504hrs. Samples were analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in high vacuum using a Carl Zeiss Evo HD 15.
Results
After 21 days, the survival of S. aureus and E. coli on cotton was 5.21log₍₁₀₎ and 4.87log₍₁₀₎ greater than the polyester respectively.
SEM images showed the trilobal and pentalobal polyester had greater clustering of cells in the channels of the surface, whereas the round polyester showed less attachment to the surface for both S. aureus and E. coli.
The cotton fibres showed the formation of a biofilm, developing from 24hrs onwards for S. aureus only.
Conclusion
S. aureus is better able to survive on cotton and forms a biofilm; however this is not observed for the E. coli.
Round polyester is the most suitable choice for use within healthcare uniforms as less attachment to the fibres is observed, which may potentially result in less cross contamination of HAIs.