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Perils of the pneumatic tube: how clean are your pods?

P McMullen1, P Lewis1, O McGugan2

  • 1Department of Microbiology, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Merseyside, UK.

The Journal of Hospital Infection
|December 3, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Pneumatic tube systems (PTSs) in hospitals can spread dangerous bacteria like VRE and MRSA. Disinfection helps temporarily, but pods quickly become recontaminated, posing a risk for pathogen transfer.

Area of Science:

  • Healthcare-associated infections
  • Microbiology
  • Hospital infrastructure

Background:

  • Pneumatic tube systems (PTSs) are common in hospitals for rapid transport.
  • Potential for PTS pods to act as vectors for pathogen transmission is a concern.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the contamination levels of PTS pods with specific alert organisms.
  • To assess the effectiveness of disinfection on reducing contamination.
  • To evaluate the rate of recontamination after disinfection.

Main Methods:

  • Sampling of PTS pods for microbial analysis.
  • Testing for meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE).
  • Post-disinfection and post-use re-sampling to assess contamination dynamics.

Main Results:

  • High initial contamination rates with VRE (53%) and MRSA (3%).
  • Disinfection significantly reduced VRE to 3% and MRSA to 0%.
  • Rapid recontamination of pods was observed after subsequent use.

Conclusions:

  • PTS pods can harbor and facilitate the spread of alert organisms within hospitals.
  • While disinfection is effective, its impact is short-lived due to quick recontamination.
  • Hospital PTS require stringent protocols to mitigate pathogen transmission risks.
Keywords:
Air tubeCarbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE)Carrier podsContaminationMeticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)Pneumatic tubeVancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE)

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