About the webinar

Healthcare uniforms are commonly washed in domestic washing machines, but household laundering conditions may not always provide consistent microbial decontamination.

In this guest webinar, Professor Katie Laird and Dr Caroline Cayrou of De Montfort University present research investigating the effectiveness of domestic washing machines for decontaminating healthcare uniforms. The study assessed different wash cycles and detergents using Enterococcus faecium bioindicators and examined whether laundering conditions achieved sufficient microbial reduction.

The session also explores how shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to characterise the microbiome and antimicrobial resistance genes present within washing machines. Microbial whole-genome sequencing was additionally applied to investigate genetic changes associated with detergent exposure and bacterial tolerance.

What you will learn

• How domestic laundering conditions influence microbial decontamination
• How shotgun metagenomics can characterise washing-machine microbiomes and resistomes
• The detection of opportunistic microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance genes
• How detergent exposure may influence bacterial tolerance and cross-resistance
• The potential implications for healthcare uniform laundering and infection control

Watch on demand

Access the recording to hear Professor Katie Laird and Dr Caroline Cayrou discuss how microbiological testing, shotgun metagenomics and whole-genome sequencing were used to investigate the effectiveness and potential risks of laundering healthcare uniforms in domestic washing machines.