Important: Bacillus cereus contamination of linen in health and adult social care settings

Event: Bacillus cereus contamination of linen in health and adult social care settings

Notified by: Sarah Milligan, Consultant in Public Health, Incidents, Outbreaks and Infection Guidance (IOIG) Team, AMR & HCAI Division, UKHSA

Authorised by:

1. Colin Brown, Deputy Director, AMR & HCAI Division
2. Will Welfare, Strategic Response Director On call
3. Trish Mannes, Regional Deputy Director On call
4. Luke Guinness, Senior Communications Manager

Contact: [email protected]

Summary:

UKHSA has been notified by a large healthcare laundry company, which supplies linen to a range of health and adult social care organisations in England, that monthly microbiological testing of linen revealed above threshold counts of Bacillus cereus (B.cereus). UKHSA has been notified that three processing sites in England are affected, however additional sites and other healthcare laundry companies may also be impacted. The organisations served are in multiple regions of England and include
a range of acute and non-acute NHS Trusts, private providers, residential adult social care providers, and others.

During periods of hot weather B.cereus will increase in the environment which can lead to rises in healthcare settings, particularly with prolonged storage of bed linen in hot environments. At present UKHSA is not aware of any B. cereus outbreaks associated with contaminated laundry. The risk to most patients is likely to be very low, with alternative linen processed through different methods provided to high-risk areas (maternity, neonatal, haematology and bone marrow transplant units) as a precautionary measure.

Please see the PDF attached to read the Briefing note in full.