""If you are actively sick with diarrhea or some kind of a GI-related condition, go ahead and separate those clothes from other healthy people in the household," said Emergency Medicine specialist Dr. Ali Jamehdor with Dignity Health St. Mary's Hospital in Long Beach. Some people let clothes sit in the hamper for weeks. He said that diarrhea-causing E. coli and salmonella can live that long in your laundry bin."
""Things are happening in the hamper. They love growing. The bacteria and viruses love growing and multiplying," he said. Staphylococcus aureus, which causes skin infections, may survive a month in a moist hamper. He recommends a short washing cycle with bleach after an especially germy load. Experts say underwear contains the most germs, followed by children's clothing. Jamehdor suggests everyone with kids do their laundry separately from theirs. And do you wash your hands after you load laundry?"
California, including Los Angeles, is experiencing elevated norovirus activity, with wastewater identifying a highly contagious GII.17 subvariant. Norovirus spreads via the fecal-oral route and can be transmitted through contaminated laundry. People with diarrhea or GI illness should separate their clothes from others and wash those items with bleach when especially germy. Pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus can survive in hampers for weeks or a month, especially when moist. Handwashing after handling laundry, washing children's clothes separately, and fully drying clothes on high heat for at least 40 minutes help prevent growth.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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