Biofilms in Hospitals
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Nosocomial infections within healthcare facilities often result from pathogens surviving in the environment as biofilms.
BIOFILMS IN HOSPITALS
Nosocomial infections
within healthcare facilities often result from pathogens surviving in the
environment as biofilms. Biofilms may facilitate carriage by patients, hospital
staff, or visitors, as for example in colonization of nasal passages by methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Biofilms may also become associated with hard surfaces, drains or
waterpipes within the facility. Infections may also be associated with
instruments or devices used in the hospital, such as the contamination of
endoscopes by biofilms, where they are responsible for the passage of
infectious organisms from one patient to another. Whether biofilms form on
animate or inanimate surfaces, their recalcitrant nature makes it difficult to
remove them from the environment.
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