Investigation of the hygienic safety of continuous positive airways pressure devices after reprocessing

With the widespread use of continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) therapy, the safety of CPAP devices after reprocessing is the subject of debate. In this study, the contamination of CPAP devices and the effectiveness of disinfection was investigated. A total of 122 CPAP devices were examined including 50 CPAP devices used by patients, which were examined before and after reprocessing. Seventy-two new CPAP devices that had not been in contact with patients served as controls. The results of this study show that the microbial contamination of new and used CPAP devices is only minimal. Contaminating micro-organisms were predominantly micro-organisms reflecting the normal environmental microflora such as Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Micrococcaceae and Bacillaceae. Gram-negative species could only be found in rare cases. The data obtained give no indication of poor disinfection of CPAP devices.