Long-term levothyroxine treatment in young adults with congenital hypothyroidism is associated with impaired diastolic function and exercise capacity and increased intima-media thickness.
BackgroundThe development of portable steam generators has made disinfection of the environment more practical. This study assessed the “in vitro” ability of an overheated dry-saturated steam vapour system to kill multidrug and extensively-drug resistant nosocomial pathogens, defining the antimicrobial spectrum and the contact times compared with the activity of sodium hypochlorite.MethodsThe antibacterial efficacy of the overheated dry-saturated steam vapour system and of sodium hypochlorite against nosocomial pathogen isolates: extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, high-level aminoglycoside-resistant Enterococcus faecalis, Candida parapsilosis and Aspergillus fumigatus were assessed using a surface time-kill test carried out on glass surfaces, with or without bovine serum albumin (BSA).ResultsThe bactericidal activity of the overheated dry-saturated steam vapour system was observed at 180 °C after 5 min contact with or without BSA, using an initial inoculum of 109 CFU/mL. To reduce C. parapsilosis and A. fumigatus counts (from 107 CFU/mL), a longer contact time was necessary (7 min). In vitro tests with sodium hypochlorite at 5 % in the absence of an organic substance also resulted in an overall reduction in bacterial counts (from 109 CFU/mL) after 5 min of treatment. For mycotic challenge (107 CFU/mL), a longer contact time was necessary (7 min). In the presence of an organic substance, after 5 min, the hypochlorite reduced the viable count from 109 to 105 CFU/mL for all bacterial strains except E. faecalis that showed a reduction of 2 log units (109 to 107 CFU/mL). For C. parapsilosis and A. fumigatus, a 2 log unit reduction was observed after 7 min.ConclusionsSteam disinfection of environmental surfaces using a portable steam generator is a practical and effective method that is not affected by the presence of organic matter.
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