Dangerous bacteria lurk in hospital sink drains, despite rigorous cleaning, study reveals

Patients with lowered immune defenses, and in some hospitals, poor adherence to hygiene protocols, allow HAIs to thrive. Furthermore, antibiotics are widely used in hospitals, which tends to select for hardy, resistant strains of bacteria. When such resistance genes lie on mobile genetic elements, they can even jump between bacterial species, potentially leading to novel diseases.

"Here we show that hospital sink drains host bacterial populations that change over time, despite impeccable cleaning protocols in the particular hospital we looked at," said Dr. Margarita Gomila, a professor at the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain, and the senior author of a study in Frontiers In Microbiology.

"These results highlight that controlling bacterial growth in drains, and preventing colonization by new strains of such hard-to-disinfect niches, is likely a global problem."

More at source: Medical Express

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