Deadly Spores Hitchhike into Hospitals

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Deadly Spores Hitchhike into Hospitals

Visitors' clothing can put the sickest at risk

By Randy Dotinga

HealthScout Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthScout) -- You won't often hear someone say that

polyester beats cotton, but the infamous leisure suit material is less

likely than cotton to carry dangerous fungal spores into the hospital rooms

of extremely sick patients, say researchers at Cornell University.

They don't suggest, however, that hospital visitors first head to a thrift

store for some vintage '70s attire. Instead, they say, hospitals should

encourage wearing freshly laundered gowns over street clothes to keep the

world's airborne dangers outside, where they belong.

" What's important is that we found these spores hitchhiking in on all the

textile fabrics " that were tested, says Kay Obendorf, a professor of

textiles and apparel at Cornell University.

The university's research was inspired by former graduate student Betsy

Dart, who wondered whether clothing could bring disease-causing spores into

hospital rooms, Obendorf says.

A fungal spore known as Aspergillus grows naturally on decaying plant

material and appears in dirt and on fruits and food products. Everyone is

exposed during daily life, both indoors and out, but the body usually

recognizes the airborne spores as enemies.

" A normal person with an intact immune system can counteract the level of

exposure we get in daily living, " Obendorf says.

But people with weak immune systems, such as late-stage AIDS patients and

people undergoing chemotherapy, are extremely vulnerable to the spores, she

says.

When inhaled, the spores can cause severe lung infections. About 90 percent

of bone-marrow transplant patients who come down with illnesses caused by

the spores die, says one study. Other research suggests that illnesses

caused by Aspergillus spores claim 40 percent of leukemia patients.

Hospitals take a variety of precautions to keep out the spores, filtering

the air in certain patient rooms and forbidding plants and flowers that

carry spores.

Some hospitals use " air showers " that blow the spores off people with blasts

of air, Obendorf says. Others require visitors to wear gowns, caps over head

or facial hair and shoe covers or booties.

Cornell researchers looked at seven types of fabric to see if they picked up

and carried spores: cotton, cotton flannel, polyester, cotton/polyester

blend, cotton muslin, lyocell chambray and rayon chambray.

Researchers took swatches of the fabrics outside in Cambridge, Mass., and

allowed them to pick up spores in the open air. They then tested what

happened when the fabrics were placed in an airflow chamber.

The spores flew off the fabrics into the air, as they would in hospital

rooms, Obendorf says.

" When you move, you're creating billowing effects and air currents through

your clothing, " she says. " Moving a chair across the floor, shaking your

head, these things could cause the release of these spores and make them

airborne. Then you can inhale them. "

Because of its rough surface contours, cotton released more spores than any

other fabric, Obendorf says. Fabrics with smoother surfaces, like polyester,

held on to fewer spores. Wool was not tested, but probably also would retain

and release spores, she says. Results of the research appear in a book about

protective clothing published last year.

Though the findings underscore the importance of covering street clothing

with gowns that are laundered inside a hospital, Obendorf says other studies

suggest that medical facilities with high numbers of vulnerable patients,

like bone-marrow transplant centers, don't always require gowns.

Philip Tierno, director of microbiology and clinical immunology at New York

University Medical Center, says hospitals should indeed encourage wearing

gowns in some patient rooms.

Tierno says bone transplant centers are the most stringent about requiring

visitors to wear gowns, with organ transplant centers close behind. Some

centers are so germ-unfriendly that they teach visitors to greet patients

without hugging or kissing them, he says.

But hospitals still need to " tighten up " their defenses against spores and

germs, he says.

Hospital visitors, however, need to be responsible, too, Obendorf says.

" When a hospital tells you to put on a gown and wear shoe covers, you do

that. And when they tell you to put a cover over your head or beard, you

comply, " she says.

What To Do

If you're visiting a hospital patient with a severely weakened immune

system, you might want to call in advance to see what precautions you may

have to take. If the policies of the hospital appear to be lax, consider

asking if you can borrow a fresh gown to wear over your clothes.

But don't bring your own gown, booties or hair covers, experts say. Clothing

laundered inside the hospital is the least likely to be contaminated by

spores.

Also, while most AIDS patients are not vulnerable to illness from

Aspergillus spores, those in the final stages of the illness may be

susceptible.

To learn more about Aspergillus, at the University of Wisconsin Web site.

If you're fascinated by fungi, check Doctorfungus.org, created by a

nonprofit group to educate patients and doctors about the fungal world.

Or, read previous HealthScout articles on the immune system and on fungal

diseases.

SOURCES: Interviews with Kay Obendorf, Ph.D., professor of textiles and

apparel, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; Philip Tierno, Ph.D., director,

Microbiology and Clinical Immunology Department, New York University Medical

Center, New York City; the book Performance of Protective Clothing: Issues

and Priorities for the 21st Century

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