Hospital laundry practices and nosocomial infection risk in a Moroccan public hospital: critical views and suggestions for improvement

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This study investigates the role of linen from laundry washing and Intensive Care Units in spreading infections at a Public Hospital in North Morocco. Microbiological analyses revealed 100% contamination of linens with a concerning presence of bacteria like Enterobacterales (30%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (21.11%), and Acinetobacter baumannii (13.3%). Most isolated bacteria show significant resistance. For all Gram-negative bacteria, ceftazidime resistance exceeded 48%, and Enterobacterales exhibited the lowest carbapenem resistance rate (14.8%). No methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was isolated. Interestingly, germ prevalence showed no significant difference between laundry and ICU settings (p = 0.68), and a solid positive correlation suggests potential cross-contamination. The FMECA analysis revealed critical deficiencies in the laundry process, including staff training and segregation of dirty from clean laundry. The PESTEL analysis highlighted the need for laundry equipment and stringent hospital linen management to ensure patient safety. This study reveals linens as potential pathogen reservoirs and highlights laundry process deficiencies.