Drains in hospitals and homes ‘hotspots’ for MRSA
Residential drinking water systems contained more pathogens than hospital plumbing in the study.
Microbiologists have found that 27% of home plumbing fixtures and 15% of hospital fixtures contain culturable pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, of which half are resistant to key antibiotics.
The first study of Australian showers, taps, drains and baths used 166 water samples and showed that 56% were PCR-positive for S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Acinetobacter baumannii.
