The novel coronavirus pneumonia is spreading rapidly; professional prevention recommendations for the laundry industry are all here
Release Time:
2020-02-02 10:45
Source:
In recent days, the number of newly reported cases and confirmed cases of Wuhan novel coronavirus infectious pneumonia has been continuously rising. On January 22, authoritative experts announced that the pathogen of this outbreak was wild animals; on January 23, given the current development of the epidemic, Wuhan city declared the suspension of all public buses, subways, ferries, and long-distance passenger transport, and issued a notice urging citizens not to leave Wuhan without special reasons. The exit channels from Wuhan were temporarily closed. Several authoritative experts stated that with the arrival of the Spring Festival travel peak, epidemic prevention and control face even more severe challenges.
15 infected medical staff nearly became a blurred focus
If it were not for the 15 medical staff becoming key evidence of human-to-human transmission in this round of infection, disclosed by Academician Zhong Nanshan, they would have been diluted into the general data of infected cases along with hundreds of other infections.
As experts analyze, epidemiological studies of infectious diseases show that although the epidemic is spreading fiercely, transmission generally requires three links: the source of infection, the route of transmission, and susceptible populations. In other words, once the pattern is understood, cutting off any one of these links can effectively prevent, control, or even block the spread of the pathogen.
Medical staff fighting on the front line of treatment being infected—does that mean they do not understand protection and self-defense? Can it simply be attributed to how powerful the coronavirus is? Obviously not. Like other terrifying infectious disease outbreaks, the novel coronavirus pneumonia is not necessarily about how strong the virus itself is, but rather the unknown nature of the epidemic that triggers public panic. While the tension of everyone being on edge in the face of transmission threats is understandable, the urgent task is how to effectively prevent and calmly get through it.
How should the laundry and dyeing industry effectively prevent infection?
As an industry closely connected with hospitals and various mobile populations, what protective measures should the medical laundry and public textile washing industry take for effective prevention? Let's listen to the professional advice from industry insiders.
About coronavirus prevention guidelines
Epidemic overview
1. The National Health Commission of China has discovered a novel coronavirus (nCOV) that has never appeared before.
2. This virus can cause fever and respiratory symptoms.
3. With prevention and strengthened testing, more cases may appear.
4. Cases have been reported in South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and the United States, with patients recently visiting China.
5. Most, but not all, cases are related to a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
6. Public health authorities are actively investigating this event, and new developments may occur.
7. Therefore, public health currently recommends focusing on standard practices of "reducing contact and lowering transmission."
What is coronavirus?
1. It is a type of enveloped RNA virus that mainly causes respiratory and intestinal diseases. The virus particles have many regularly arranged spikes on their surface, making the whole virus particle look like a royal crown, hence the name "coronavirus."
2. Besides humans, it can infect pigs, cattle, cats, dogs, minks, camels, bats, mice, hedgehogs, and various birds.
3. So far, six known human coronaviruses exist. Four of them are common in the population and cause mild respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold. The other two—Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)—can cause severe respiratory diseases.
4. The novel coronavirus causing this epidemic (nCoV2019) is different from the known human coronaviruses, and further scientific research is needed to understand it deeply.
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The novel coronavirus pneumonia is spreading fiercely; professional prevention advice for the laundry and dyeing industry is all here.
2020-02-02 10:45:14 Author: yangyuelu Source: Netizens' comments 0 items
In recent days, the number of newly reported cases and confirmed cases of Wuhan novel coronavirus infectious pneumonia has been continuously rising. On January 22, authoritative experts announced that the pathogen of this outbreak was wild animals; on January 23, given the current development of the epidemic, Wuhan city declared the suspension of all public buses, subways, ferries, and long-distance passenger transport, and issued a notice urging citizens not to leave Wuhan without special reasons. The exit channels from Wuhan were temporarily closed. Several authoritative experts stated that with the arrival of the Spring Festival travel peak, epidemic prevention and control face even more severe challenges.
15 infected medical staff nearly became a blurred focus
If it were not for the 15 medical staff becoming key evidence of human-to-human transmission in this round of infection, disclosed by Academician Zhong Nanshan, they would have been diluted into the general data of infected cases along with hundreds of other infections.
As experts analyze, epidemiological studies of infectious diseases show that although the epidemic is spreading fiercely, transmission generally requires three links: the source of infection, the route of transmission, and susceptible populations. In other words, once the pattern is understood, cutting off any one of these links can effectively prevent, control, or even block the spread of the pathogen.
Medical staff fighting on the front line of treatment get infected. Does that mean they don't understand protection and self-care? Can it simply be attributed to how powerful the coronavirus is? Obviously not. Like other terrifying infectious disease outbreaks, the novel coronavirus pneumonia is not necessarily about how strong the virus itself is, but rather the unknown nature of the epidemic that triggers people's panic. While the tension of everyone being on edge in the face of transmission threats is understandable, how to effectively prevent and calmly get through it is the urgent task.
How should the laundry and dyeing industry effectively prevent infection?
As the medical laundry and public textile washing industry closely contacts hospitals and various mobile populations, what protective measures should be taken for effective prevention? Let's listen to the professional advice from industry insiders.
Guidelines for Coronavirus Prevention
Epidemic Overview
1. The National Health Commission of China has identified a novel coronavirus (nCOV) that has never appeared before.
2. This virus can cause fever and respiratory symptoms.
3. With prevention and enhanced testing, more cases may appear.
4. Cases have been reported in South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and the United States, with patients recently visiting China.
5. Most, but not all, cases are related to a trading market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
6. Public health authorities are actively investigating this event, and new developments cannot be ruled out.
7. Because of this, public health currently recommends focusing on standard practices of "reducing contact and lowering transmission."
What is Coronavirus?
1. It is a type of enveloped RNA virus, mainly causing respiratory and intestinal diseases. The surface of these virus particles has many regularly arranged spikes, making the whole virus particle look like a royal crown, hence the name "coronavirus."
2. Besides humans, it can infect pigs, cattle, cats, dogs, minks, camels, bats, mice, hedgehogs, and various mammals as well as many bird species.
3. So far, six human coronaviruses are known. Four of them are common in the population, causing mild respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold. The other two coronaviruses—Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS CoV)—can cause severe respiratory diseases.
4. The novel coronavirus causing this epidemic (nCoV2019) is different from the known human coronaviruses, and further scientific research is needed to understand it deeply.
Transmission routes?
Different coronaviruses have different transmission routes. Human coronaviruses occasionally spread through feces, but may be transmitted from an infected person to others in the following ways.
1. Droplets & air (sneezing, coughing).
2. Close contact with infected persons (touching or shaking hands).
3. Touching surfaces and objects contaminated by the virus and then touching the mouth, nose, or eyes without washing hands.
Preventive measures recommendation - reduce your own risk
Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent nCoV. Measures to reduce your own risk are as follows:
1. Wash hands properly.
2. Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with dirty hands.
3. Avoid close contact with patients showing cold symptoms.
4. Do not touch animals or their feces, and do not eat wild animals.
5. Avoid going to farmers' markets, live poultry markets, or farms.
6. If you develop a fever or other symptoms after traveling, wear a mask and seek medical attention immediately, informing the doctor of your recent travel history.
Preventive measures construction - how to protect others
If you have cold-like symptoms, measures to protect others are as follows:
1. Wear a mask.
2. Do not go to work or school; stay at home.
3. Reduce close contact with others.
4. When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, then throw the tissue into the trash and wash your hands immediately.
5. Seek medical attention early.
6. Clean and disinfect contaminated objects and surfaces.
Tips:
Correct handwashing method
1. Use soap.
2. Rub hands for at least 20 seconds.
When to wash hands
1. After touching public facilities such as handrails or door handles.
2. When hands are contaminated by respiratory secretions, such as coughing or sneezing.
When unable to wash hands
It is recommended to use hand sanitizer to rub hands.
Suggestions for Safety Precautions in Medical Linen Washing
Precautions in the On-site Receiving and Dispatching Staff Operation Process:
1. On-site receiving and dispatching staff must take safety protection measures before starting work: correctly wear protective masks, gloves, hats, work clothes, etc., and wear protective face shields if necessary.
2. During receiving and dispatching, handle quickly and avoid lingering in crowded places or moving between wards.
3. Minimize shaking when collecting soiled fabrics; classify infectious and soiled fabrics separately, with clear labels on infectious fabric packaging.
4. Soiled and clean fabrics should be placed in dedicated containers, which are used, washed, and disinfected daily.
5. Soiled fabrics must not be exposed to air during receiving, dispatching, and transportation to prevent environmental contamination and secondary contamination of clean fabrics.
6. Fabric receiving and dispatch vehicles and transport vehicles should be disinfected before and after use daily, with records kept by designated personnel.
7. After completing each work step, hands should be washed and disinfected promptly and properly using special antibacterial hand sanitizer, following the six-step handwashing method (Note: Wearing gloves does not replace handwashing; hands must be washed after removing gloves).
8. Maintain environmental hygiene and air circulation in the hospital linen turnover area; disinfect indoor surfaces before and after each shift daily and keep records.
9. Avoid close contact with patients showing symptoms of coughing or fever.
10. If experiencing fever or respiratory infection symptoms, it is recommended to seek medical attention promptly.
Precautions in Workshop Production Staff Operation Process
1. Workshop staff protection: strictly wear protective masks, gloves, work clothes, hats, etc.
2. After completing each work step, hands should be washed and disinfected promptly and properly using special antibacterial hand sanitizer, following the six-step handwashing method (Note: Wearing gloves does not replace handwashing; hands must be washed after removing gloves).
3. Before and after each shift, wipe and disinfect surfaces of workbenches, machinery, and floors.
4. Fabric drying temperature should not be lower than 60℃, and ironing temperature should not exceed 180℃.
5. Staff in contaminated areas must wear protective clothing, masks, gloves, hats, work shoes, and other protective equipment.
6. According to the heat sensitivity characteristics of coronavirus pathogens, disinfect fabrics strictly following the high-temperature washing method in WS/T508-2016 "Technical Specifications for Washing and Disinfection of Hospital Medical Fabrics," raising water temperature to 75℃ for ≥30 minutes or 80℃ for ≥10 minutes or A0 value ≥600.
7. Infectious fabrics must be washed and disinfected in a separately designated area, strictly following WS/T 508-2016 "Technical Specifications for Disinfection of Hospital Medical Fabrics."
8. After each batch of infectious fabrics is loaded into washing equipment, immediately use an effective disinfectant (e.g., ≥2000mg/L chlorine-containing disinfectant) to wipe and disinfect the equipment door and nearby areas.
9. After daily work, use an effective disinfectant (e.g., ≥1000mg/L chlorine-containing disinfectant) to spray and disinfect equipment surfaces and floors.
Correct Selection of Medical Washing Equipment
Section 4.4 of WS/T508 Technical Specifications for Washing and Disinfection of Hospital Medical Fabrics clearly states:
1. Medical fabric washing, disinfection, drying, ironing supplies and equipment should meet work requirements.
2. The hygiene quality of washing water should comply with GB5749 requirements.
3. Washing and drying equipment should be specially designed, nationally tested and qualified, with heating functions.
4. Hygienic isolation type washing and drying equipment is preferred.
5. Socialized washing service organizations should be equipped with tunnel-type washing units.
6. Detergents, disinfectants, and disinfection equipment should comply with relevant national regulations.
Hygiene and Disinfection Suggestions for Hotel Linen Washing
Cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization are the three key words to ensure hygiene and disinfection safety in hotel linen washing.
How to achieve 100% hygiene and disinfection in hotel linen washing?
1. Thermal disinfection method for linen
This method uses physical effects such as temperature and light to denature or coagulate microbial proteins and enzymes to achieve disinfection and sterilization. Different countries have different regulations for this method. The UK has the lowest standard, Germany has the strictest disinfection regulations, and the minimum recommended thermal disinfection washing requirement for hotel washing in China is washing at 80℃ for 10 minutes.
Washing temperature and time are the fundamental factors determining linen disinfection; the drying process of the dryer can effectively reduce residual microorganisms and viruses.
2. Chemical Disinfection Method for Linen
Chemical disinfection method uses chemical agents to penetrate bacteria, causing protein coagulation and denaturation, interfering with bacterial enzyme activity, inhibiting bacterial metabolism and growth, damaging bacterial membrane structure, altering permeability, and destroying physiological functions to achieve disinfection and sterilization. When hotel laundry involves temperature-sensitive fabrics such as synthetic fibers, wool, or uses low-temperature washing, chemical disinfection must be used to disinfect the linen.
(1) Use chlorine-containing disinfectants (taking Casihai Bao chlorine bleach as an example)
Soaking: concentration 250ppm-400ppm, time more than 20 minutes.
Washing: use chlorine bleach at 200ppm at 40℃, 100ppm at 60℃.
(2) Use peracetic acid-based cleaners (taking Casihai Bao high-efficiency low-temperature oxygen bleach as an example)
Soaking: concentration 0.2%-0.5%, and time more than 10 minutes.
Washing: use chlorine bleach, 2ml per liter of water, wash at 60℃.
Note: When using chemical disinfection to wash linen, all washing standard operations must be performed according to the disinfection specifications of the chemicals used.
3. Linen Light Disinfection Method
This method uses physical effects such as temperature to cause protein or enzyme denaturation or coagulation in microorganisms to achieve disinfection and sterilization. Light disinfection mainly uses ultraviolet light irradiation to cause photolytic denaturation of bacterial proteins, leading to bacterial death.
(1) Sunlight exposure disinfection method: used for disinfecting pillows, quilts, mattresses, cotton wadding, etc. Generally, 6 hours of exposure achieves disinfection, with turning over every 2 hours.
(2) Ultraviolet disinfection method: used for air disinfection and surface disinfection of objects.
Note: Ultraviolet light and sunlight can cause certain damage to humans and linen, so strict operating procedures must be followed. Also, ultraviolet lamps in rooms cannot be used for linen disinfection but can be used to disinfect hard surfaces that come into contact with linen.
How to effectively prevent bacterial growth and cross-contamination of linen
Secondary contamination after linen washing easily causes bacterial growth and cross-contamination of washed linen, requiring many preventive measures.
1. Hygiene requirements for linen in the laundry room
a) The laundry room should clearly separate dirty and clean areas.
b) Linen transfer in the laundry room should flow unidirectionally from dirty to clean areas.
c) Airflow direction should be from clean to dirty areas.
d) Linen carts for dirty and clean areas must be strictly separated and not mixed.
e) Surfaces contacting clean linen should be disinfected every 2 hours.
f) Classification areas, dirty and clean zones require fly killers or high-voltage insect traps.
g) Staff from dirty and clean areas are prohibited from entering each other's zones.
h) Hands must be washed and hand disinfectants used whenever touching clean linen.
2. Transportation requirements for clean linen
a) Vehicles and tools used for transporting linen must be surface disinfected each time.
b) Vehicles and tools transporting linen must have covers that fully cover the linen.
c) Covers must be cleaned after use and cannot be reused.
d) Linen transport must not share elevators with food or garbage.
e) Staff transporting linen must use waterless antibacterial hand sanitizer before touching clean linen.
3. Temporary storage requirements for clean linen in the linen room
a) Shelves and surfaces storing linen in the linen room must be disinfected daily.
b) Linen stored in the linen room must not exceed 7 days.
c) The linen room must not store garbage, dirty linen, or other cleaning tools.
d) The linen room must prevent rodents and pests.
e) Ultraviolet lamp irradiation disinfection can be used in the linen room.
4. Taking and using clean linen
a) Staff must wash hands and use hand disinfectants when taking linen.
b) Work carts must be disinfected before placing clean linen.
c) The surface of clean linens must be disinfected.
d) Employees need to use waterless disinfectant hand sanitizer before handling clean linens.
e) Linens in rooms unused by guests for 7 days require disinfection or re-washing.
Pay attention to the hygiene of washing water quality.
The water used for washing linens is often overlooked during the washing process, but fresh water used for washing is also an important factor causing bacterial growth. Although national regulations require washing water to meet potable water standards, bacteria may regrow when the washing water is stored in tanks before washing.
Although linens are disinfected during the main washing stage, they can easily be re-contaminated by bacteria-containing water during the rinsing step. This harmful issue may worsen during ironing and drying. The recommended practice is to add low concentrations of hypochlorite to the storage tanks to inhibit bacterial regrowth and ensure washing water safety.
Conclusion
During the Spring Festival travel rush, the increased mobility of people objectively raises the risk of epidemic spread and the difficulty of prevention and control. We must not be careless and remain highly vigilant!
The editorial department of "China Laundry" hereby expresses the highest respect to the medical staff who bravely fight on the front lines of epidemic prevention!
We call on all laundry and dyeing colleagues to provide safe washing services based on national and industry standards and requirements, while ensuring the safety protection of industry workers, to prevent problems before they occur.
We sincerely wish all laundry and dyeing colleagues a prosperous New Year and happiness and health for their families!
Material provided and professional support:
Ecolab China Care Department
Tayho Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Xinyuan Medical Textile (Sanhe) Laundry Service Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Jingxi Medical Textile Technology Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Hangxing Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd.
Image source: People's Daily
Compiled by "China Laundry"
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