HOSPITAL LAUNDRY AND REFUSE CHUTES AS SOURCE OF STAPHYLOCOCCIC CROSS-INFECTION

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Abstract
The modern, multistoried hospital is provided with chutes for the disposal of soiled laundry and of waste. The part played by such chutes in the dissemination of air-borne bacteria was investigated. Air movement within the chutes and at their openings was studied by methods which included the use of yellowsmoke candles and fluorescent powder; bacteria were cultured and phage-typed. Especially above the ninth floor, there tended to be an upward movement of air in the chutes, with small volumes leaking out constantly from cracks around the doors and large volumes flowing out into the corridors when chute doors were opened. The opening of a chute door when material was dropped from above permitted strong gusts of contaminated air to blow out into the corridor. The majority of chute staphylococci studied were resistant to penicillin, and their phage-patterns were those typical of bacteria causing hospital cross-infections. The chutes present an undeniable hazard that demands correction. Until better ones can be designed, it will be necessary to change the procedure for handling both soiled laundry and other materials. The practice of putting materials from infected patients directly into waste-chutes must be discontinued, and the bedclothing of patients with even mild staphylococcic infection should be handled like that of patients in isolation.

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