Hygiene Alert- How safe is hospital, hotel bedding?
Apr 26, 2010
EVERYONE likes the feel of clean clothes and a clean environment. But how much attention do we pay to things we use everyday? Take for instance, the stair railing at work, the bedding in an out-of-town hotel or in a hospital. What about door handles at a public place, or perhaps even the keyboard in
By Hope Abimanya
EVERYONE likes the feel of clean clothes and a clean environment. But how much attention do we pay to things we use everyday? Take for instance, the stair railing at work, the bedding in an out-of-town hotel or in a hospital. What about door handles at a public place, or perhaps even the keyboard in your office.
Have you stopped to think that you could get an infection from any of these? When Easter Nakato, a businesswoman in town, was admitted in a hospital around town, she was disappointed with the bedding.
“The blanket was old and had a bad smell. I wondered how other patients had coped.†She had to send word home for something better.
We sometimes assume that public health facilities like hospitals must be very hygienic. Betty Kasanka, of the Infection Control Unit at the health ministry, warns against sharing bedding or towels.
“You don’t know how safe the person that used it before you is. It is safer for someone to carry their own bedding to hospital to avoid infections,†she says.
Dr. Ian Clark, the director of International Hospital Kampala, says they do regular cleaning in the hospital.
“Each time a patient is discharged, there are workers who make sure the bedding is cleaned and ironed before handing it to another patient,†he says, adding that they have a laundry and a supervisor specifically for that.
“Our patient’s health is very important, we cannot heal the patients if they were using unclean utilities,†Clark says.
With hotels, people need to be even more careful.
Miriam, a receptionist at a lodge in town, says more customers use lodges during the day than at night. Sometimes, the beds are given per hour as people rush in and out.
One wonders whether there is enough time to change the bedding. Many hotels cannot afford to do do every hour.
However, Jivnath Panjeni, a manager at Speke Hotel Kampala, says they take cleanliness very seriously.
“It is something we do daily. We make sure each time a customer leaves, the bedding is removed and general cleaning done. We have a check-list to ensure that no customer goes to an unclean room,†Panjeni says. He says he has never received any complaints from any customer.
This, however, should be something practised not just in hospitals and hotels but even in our homes.
“In some homes, when a visitor leaves, the bedsheets they used are left on the bed to be used by the next person. That is wrong,†Kasanga says.
Peter Magala, a medical doctor at Mbarara University Hospital, says several diseases can result from sharing unclean bedclothes or other public utilities.
These include skin infections, bacterial infections, Ebola, lice, cholera, bedbugs and ringworms.
He advises hospitals to have isolation rooms where patients with different diseases should be admitted to avoid spreading disease from one person to another.
Some of the diseases that need isolation include TB, cholera, Ebola, typhoid and those described as communicable diseases.
Sometimes, people leave sharp objects in the bed. Sometimes, the bedclothes are stained with blood or other body fluids, which can lead to sexually transmitted infections, especially syphillis.
How does one curb such infections? Kasanka says individuals are responsible for their safety. Hand washing is a simple method that plays a big part in preventing transmission of diseases.
Staircases, rails and banisters are utilities that may not be thoroughly cleaned and yet are used by people who use the bathroom and do not wash their hands.
Hospital rails cause viral infections because workers, patients, doctors and visitors touch the same place with unclean hands.
People should also be hygiene conscious while in public Internet cafes. The computers there are used by many people and one can never be sure of the hands that touched the keyboard. If the previous user had an infection, it can be passed on to another.
Denis Akampa, an Internet cafe owner, says he did not know that sharing keyboards could cause infections. He says more than 20 people use the same keyboard in a day.
Symptoms may not show up immediately, except in situations where the infection is bacterial. In such a case, one may get a fever, stomach ache or rash, depending on the kind of infection.
Once that happens, Kasanka advises that one should avoid self-medication, but seek medical advice.
Likely infections
Sharing unclean bed clothes or other public utilities can result in:
Skin infections like ringworm
Bacterial infections (scabbies)
Ebola
Lice
Cholera
Bedbugs
Avoid infectionsEnsure isolation rooms in hospitals,
for cases like TB, cholera, ebola, typhoid
Avoid leaving sharp objects in public beds l Check to see that the bedding is not stained with blood, or bodily fluids
EVERYONE likes the feel of clean clothes and a clean environment. But how much attention do we pay to things we use everyday? Take for instance, the stair railing at work, the bedding in an out-of-town hotel or in a hospital. What about door handles at a public place, or perhaps even the keyboard in your office.
Have you stopped to think that you could get an infection from any of these? When Easter Nakato, a businesswoman in town, was admitted in a hospital around town, she was disappointed with the bedding.
“The blanket was old and had a bad smell. I wondered how other patients had coped.†She had to send word home for something better.
We sometimes assume that public health facilities like hospitals must be very hygienic. Betty Kasanka, of the Infection Control Unit at the health ministry, warns against sharing bedding or towels.
“You don’t know how safe the person that used it before you is. It is safer for someone to carry their own bedding to hospital to avoid infections,†she says.
Dr. Ian Clark, the director of International Hospital Kampala, says they do regular cleaning in the hospital.
“Each time a patient is discharged, there are workers who make sure the bedding is cleaned and ironed before handing it to another patient,†he says, adding that they have a laundry and a supervisor specifically for that.
“Our patient’s health is very important, we cannot heal the patients if they were using unclean utilities,†Clark says.
With hotels, people need to be even more careful.
Miriam, a receptionist at a lodge in town, says more customers use lodges during the day than at night. Sometimes, the beds are given per hour as people rush in and out.
One wonders whether there is enough time to change the bedding. Many hotels cannot afford to do do every hour.
However, Jivnath Panjeni, a manager at Speke Hotel Kampala, says they take cleanliness very seriously.
“It is something we do daily. We make sure each time a customer leaves, the bedding is removed and general cleaning done. We have a check-list to ensure that no customer goes to an unclean room,†Panjeni says. He says he has never received any complaints from any customer.
This, however, should be something practised not just in hospitals and hotels but even in our homes.
“In some homes, when a visitor leaves, the bedsheets they used are left on the bed to be used by the next person. That is wrong,†Kasanga says.
Peter Magala, a medical doctor at Mbarara University Hospital, says several diseases can result from sharing unclean bedclothes or other public utilities.
These include skin infections, bacterial infections, Ebola, lice, cholera, bedbugs and ringworms.
He advises hospitals to have isolation rooms where patients with different diseases should be admitted to avoid spreading disease from one person to another.
Some of the diseases that need isolation include TB, cholera, Ebola, typhoid and those described as communicable diseases.
Sometimes, people leave sharp objects in the bed. Sometimes, the bedclothes are stained with blood or other body fluids, which can lead to sexually transmitted infections, especially syphillis.
How does one curb such infections? Kasanka says individuals are responsible for their safety. Hand washing is a simple method that plays a big part in preventing transmission of diseases.
Staircases, rails and banisters are utilities that may not be thoroughly cleaned and yet are used by people who use the bathroom and do not wash their hands.
Hospital rails cause viral infections because workers, patients, doctors and visitors touch the same place with unclean hands.
People should also be hygiene conscious while in public Internet cafes. The computers there are used by many people and one can never be sure of the hands that touched the keyboard. If the previous user had an infection, it can be passed on to another.
Denis Akampa, an Internet cafe owner, says he did not know that sharing keyboards could cause infections. He says more than 20 people use the same keyboard in a day.
Symptoms may not show up immediately, except in situations where the infection is bacterial. In such a case, one may get a fever, stomach ache or rash, depending on the kind of infection.
Once that happens, Kasanka advises that one should avoid self-medication, but seek medical advice.
Likely infections
Sharing unclean bed clothes or other public utilities can result in:
Skin infections like ringworm
Bacterial infections (scabbies)
Ebola
Lice
Cholera
Bedbugs
Avoid infectionsEnsure isolation rooms in hospitals,
for cases like TB, cholera, ebola, typhoid
Avoid leaving sharp objects in public beds l Check to see that the bedding is not stained with blood, or bodily fluids