For the first time in history, researchers have identified a washing machine as a reservoir of multi-antibiotics resistant pathogens. The pathogens, identified as a Klebsiella oxytoca clone, were transferred several times to newborns in neonatal intensive care in a German pediatric hospital. The transmission of the disease was only interrupted after the washing machine was removed from the hospital. The study was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. According to first author Ricarda M. Schmithausen, PhD  it was a very unusual case for the hospital because the transmission took place in a domestic washing machine. Hospitals generally use … Continue reading Study Finds That Washing Machines Can Spread Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria