April 23, 2024- A new study highlights the vulnerability for contamination through sinks and other water sources in hospitals. A new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) reports the infection prevention steps taken to control a months-long multispecies outbreak of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales that occurred in a pediatric ward at the Toho University Omori Medical Center in Tokyo in 2017.
Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) are a major public health threat because of their resistance to widely used antibiotics. The biological mechanism that confers multidrug resistance can be passed from one bacterial species to another, contributing to the growing epidemic of antimicrobial resistance.
Measures implemented by the infection prevention team included recommending hand disinfection after using sinks, introducing disposable tools for cleaning sinks, prohibiting mouth-washing with sink water, enacting disinfection and drying procedures to any items exposed to sink water, and more.