Handorean Alina, Robertson Charles E, Harris J Kirk, Frank Daniel, Hull Natalie, Kotter Cassandra, Stevens Mark J, Baumgardner Darrel, Pace Norman R, Hernandez Mark
Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA.
Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA.
Microbiome. 2015 Dec 9;3:72. doi: 10.1186/s40168-015-0132-3.
A wide variety of specialty textiles are used in health care settings for bedding, clothing, and privacy. The ability of textiles to host or otherwise sequester microbes has been well documented; however, their reciprocal potential for liberating airborne bacteria remains poorly characterized. In response, a multi-season survey of bacterial bioaerosols was conducted in the origin and terminus of residual paths which are specifically designed to isolate soiled hospital textiles as they are moved to laundering. This survey used conventional optical particle counting which incorporated multi-channel fluorescence in conjunction with molecular phylogenetic analyses to characterize the bioaerosols liberated during soiled textile storage--immediately before and after the occupation of a modern hospital. Although outfitted with a HEPA filtration system, the number of airborne particles presenting fluorescing optical signatures consistent with airborne bacteria and fungi significantly increased in textile holding rooms soon after the hospital's commissioning, even though these isolated residual areas rarely host personnel. The bioaerosol liberated during textile storage was characterized using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of bacterial 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) genes. Gene copies recovered by quantitative PCR from aerosol collected in co-located impingers were consistent with fluorescence gated optical particle counting.
The relative abundance patterns of proximal bacterial bioaerosol were such that the air in the origin and terminus of textile storage rooms could not be differentiated once the hospital began processing soiled linens. Genes from microbes typically associating with human skin, feces, and hair--Staphylococcus, Propionibacteria, Corynebacteria, Lactobacillus, and Streptococcus spp.--dominated the aerosol abundance profiles in textile holding rooms, which were generally far less diverse than communities recovered from surfaces in patient rooms.
These results suggest that aerosol partitioning from the routine handling of soiled textiles can contribute to airborne exposures in the health care environment.
在医疗环境中，各种各样的特种纺织品被用于床上用品、衣物和隐私保护。纺织品容纳或以其他方式隔离微生物的能力已有充分记录；然而，它们释放空气传播细菌的潜在可能性仍未得到充分表征。为此，在专门设计用于隔离待清洗的脏污医院纺织品的残留路径的起点和终点进行了一项多季节细菌生物气溶胶调查。该调查使用传统光学粒子计数法，结合多通道荧光和分子系统发育分析，以表征在脏污纺织品储存期间（现代医院启用前后）释放的生物气溶胶。尽管配备了高效空气过滤器，但在医院启用后不久，纺织品存放室中呈现出与空气传播细菌和真菌一致的荧光光学特征的空气传播颗粒数量显著增加，尽管这些隔离的残留区域很少有人员出入。通过对细菌16S核糖体核糖核酸（rRNA）基因进行Illumina MiSeq测序，对纺织品储存期间释放的生物气溶胶进行了表征。通过定量PCR从并置撞击器收集的气溶胶中回收的基因拷贝与荧光门控光学粒子计数结果一致。
近端细菌生物气溶胶的相对丰度模式表明，一旦医院开始处理脏污床单，纺织品储存室起点和终点的空气就无法区分。通常与人类皮肤、粪便和头发相关的微生物——葡萄球菌、丙酸杆菌、棒状杆菌、乳杆菌和链球菌属——的基因在纺织品存放室的气溶胶丰度谱中占主导地位，其多样性通常远低于从病房表面回收的群落。
这些结果表明，日常处理脏污纺织品产生的气溶胶分配可能导致医疗环境中的空气传播暴露。
