Changes in Britain' s National Health Service have led many British hospitals to end on-site laundry services for their staff
Although the water in a typical residential washing machine, unlike that in the industrial washing machines used by hospitals, does not reach temperatures high enough to kill the dangerous bacterium Acinetobacter, hospital officials believe that the discontinuation of these services will not put patients at risk
Hospital patients infected with Acinetobacter can be isolated from other patients.