As Cold and flu season begins – and COVID continues to spread— you may be washing your hands more often than usual. But how often do you clean the place where you wash your hands? When it comes to dangerous microbes, new research out of Australia suggests your kitchen sink contains just about everything except, well, the kitchen sink.
Both hospital and home sinks are breeding grounds for pathogens that can cause disease, including pneumonia, Wound infectionsAnd Legionnaires’ diseasea severe form of pneumonia caused by Legionella Bacteria, according to researchers at Flinders University in South Australia. Their results were published this summer in the journal Science of the entire environment.
“This research shows that handwashing sinks may play a significant and underestimated role in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs),” Harriet Whiley, PhDAssociate Professor of Environmental Health in Flinders’ College of Science and Technologysaid in a Press release about her team’s research.
In addition, household sinks not only showed a higher number of Legionella bacteria compared to hospital sinks, but also a more diverse bacterial community, Whiley said.
The slimy substance that builds up on drains, bowl rims and faucet bases is anything but harmless slime. It is a fine layer of bacteria called biofilm that can pose a public health risk. Handwashing sinks are a recognized source of hospital-acquired infections, affecting 7% of high-income hospital patients and 15% of low- and middle-income hospital patients worldwide, according to the World Health OrganizationIn this study, researchers wanted to investigate the bacterial diversity of biofilms in kitchen drains in homes and hospitals.
The team analyzed 40 biofilm samples collected “opportunistically” from the taps and drains of nine hospital sinks in New South Wales and 11 residential sinks in South Australia. The researchers collected the samples from bathroom sinks and the hospital samples from patient bathrooms, sinks in communal hallways and a staff room sink.
In addition to Legionellathey found more than a dozen potentially pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococciwhich causes staphylococcal infections, and Vibriothe culprit behind cholera (Vibrio cholerae) and rarely flesh-eating infections (Vibrio vulnificus). Some of the bacteria identified are not normally found in water. In domestic sinks, the relative abundance of seven species of potentially pathogenic or corrosive bacteria was significantly higher.
“This poses a risk to patients receiving medical care at home. an alternative to lengthy inpatient hospital stays to reduce the burden on the health system,” said lead researcher and doctoral student Claire Hayward says the press release.
Hospitals have implemented infection control measures that include regular cleaning of sinks, and patients receiving inpatient care need to be educated on how to adequately disinfect sinks at home, Hayward said.
The colonization of dangerous microbes in biofilms of sinks could lead to the increase in Antibiotic resistanceshe added.
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How to clean, disinfect and sanitize household sinks
Provided you wash your hands before every meal and after every visit to the bathroom – not to mention preparing food and brushing your teeth – the kitchen and bathroom sinks in your home are under a lot of bacterial stress. Thoroughly washing such hard surfaces in your home is a three-step process that should always be done in the following order, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- cleaning
- Physically removes most of the dirt, germs and contaminants
- Use soap or detergent with water to scrub, wash and rinse
- Should be carried out regularly
- Disinfect
- Reduces the number of germs to a safe level
- Use weaker bleach solutions or disinfectant sprays
- Disinfect objects and surfaces that come into contact with the mouth (e.g. toys, baby feeding equipment, work surfaces and other surfaces that come into contact with food).
- Disinfect
- Kills remaining germs, further reducing the risk of disease spread
- Use an EPA-registered disinfectant or a stronger bleach solution
- Disinfect surfaces when someone is sick or at higher risk of getting sick due to a weakened immune system.
More information about bacteria:
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