To explore the growth of different bacteria in the water traps of sinks over time, environmental samples were collected with ESwabs (Copan Diagnostics Inc., Murrieta, CA, USA) from all 14 patient-associated sinks in the Burn Centre. The sampling took place at 8 a.m. every time, i.e., approximately 4 h after the last disinfection cycle. The swabs were inserted through the strainer and turned around. The collection of samples started directly after the installation of the self-disinfecting sinks in September 2019 and continued on a weekly basis until April 2020, for a total of 35 weeks. Records were kept concerning patient occupancy of each room upon sampling.
The samples were sent to the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Linköping University Hospital, and streaked onto three different types of media using the swabs: blood agar, hematin agar, and chromogenic urinary tract infection (UTI) agar (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Discs (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) with imipenem (10 µg), trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (1.25–23.75 µg), and linezolid (10 µg) were placed on the plates, respectively. The plates were incubated at 35 °C for approximately 48 h. Bacteria were identified to the species level with a MALDI Biotyper 3.0 (Bruker Corporation, Karlsruhe, Germany).
The samples were sent to the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Linköping University Hospital, and streaked onto three different types of media using the swabs: blood agar, hematin agar, and chromogenic urinary tract infection (UTI) agar (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Discs (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) with imipenem (10 µg), trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (1.25–23.75 µg), and linezolid (10 µg) were placed on the plates, respectively. The plates were incubated at 35 °C for approximately 48 h. Bacteria were identified to the species level with a MALDI Biotyper 3.0 (Bruker Corporation, Karlsruhe, Germany).