Biofilms on Hospital Shower Hoses: Characterization and Implications for Nosocomial Infections.

ABSTRACT: Although the source of drinking water (DW) used in hospitals is commonly disinfected, biofilms forming on water pipelines are a refuge for bacteria, including possible pathogens that survive different disinfection strategies. These biofilm communities are only beginning to be explored by culture-independent techniques that circumvent the limitations of conventional monitoring efforts. Hence, theories regarding the frequency of opportunistic pathogens in DW biofilms and how biofilm members withstand high doses of disinfectants and/or chlorine residuals in the water supply remain speculative. The aim of this study was to characterize the composition of microbial communities growing on five hospital shower hoses using both 16S rRNA gene sequencing of bacterial isolates and whole-genome shotgu

SUBMITTER: Soto-Giron MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4836434 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature