Question

A client with TB has been discharged from the health care facility. What care should be taken with regard to cleaning the bed linens used by the client during his stay at the facility?a) Expose them to steam.
b) Wash them in a sterile solution.
c) Wash them using a disinfectant.
d) Wash them with boiling water.

Answer 1

Wash them with boiling water.

Explanation:

Boiling the contaminated linen in water boiling at boiling temperature of 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit) for a time of 15 minutes is the best method to kill tuberculosis bacteria. Most of the pathogenic microbial organisms like virus, bacteria, parasites, etc will be killed in hot boiling water due to denaturing of their cellular components, especially their proteins, which renders them ineffective or destroys completely. This is similar to high temperature for short time sterilization methods.

Disinfectants or sterile solutions may not kill the bacteria completely because drug-resistant bacteria may resist the chemicals present in disinfectants or sterile solution.  

Due to production of spores by bacteria, steaming is also not an appropriate option because steam can carry some of their spores .