This has been proven by hygienists at the University of Bonn for a children's hospital in which a Klebsiella oxytoca type was repeatedly transmitted to newborns. Fortunately, no dangerous infection occurred. The source was a conventional washing machine used to launder the clothes of the newborns. This case draws attention, especially as antibiotic-resistant bacteria could also be transmitted via the washing machine in households with people who need nursing care. A further study will examine this distribution channel in more detail.
The results are now published in the journal "Applied and Environmental Microbiology". The Klebsiella oxytoca bacterium was increasingly detected during routine hygiene screenings in the neonatal ward of a children's hospital in Germany. The bacterium can lead to gastrointestinal and respiratory infections and in the worst case result in fatal sepsis. In…
