This is bad news. But it doesn't tell us that washing with detergent is unable to remove the pathogen from scrubs. Nor does it tell us that that washing at high temperatures no longer kills it.
Hot wash (boiling water) with detergent, followed by hot air tumble drying also, will pretty much sterilize clothing. Of course that doesn't prevent contamination at some point later.
I had not thought of that! Good call out, definitely an opportunity for gamma radiation treatment as part of the cleaning cycle after mechanical washing.
Wouldn’t get inside the clothing (gowns, scrubs, etc). The benefit of gamma is you can throw it all in the target area and ensure somewhat uniform exposure (similar to food/ag irradiation).
Regardless, the outcome is going to be shorter lifetime of these medical resources due to decay rate from the more aggressive treatment cycle.
