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Loyola University Medical Center recently grabbed national headlines when a top official released results of a study that said mandatory flu vaccines for healthcare workers don't produce a "mass exodus" of employees. While sporadic healthcare systems nationwide have fired workers for refusing flu shots, requiring workers to get the vaccine doesn't lead to a rash of employee resignations.

Federal health officials reported last month that antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect at least two million Americans every year, and at least 23,000 die from those infections. This harsh reality of hospital infections means that there is no doubting the importance of their control and prevention. Limiting the spread of infection will require novel infection control strategies. A key element of this strategy is to control the dispersal of microbes via contaminated bed linen, mattresses and other points of close contact with infected individuals (Thilagavathi and Kannaian, 2008).