A recent study found about 10 percent of linens tested positive for Mucorales, a type of fungus, at 20 percent of the hospitals analyzed, according to an article on the Becker's Clinical Leadership and Infection Control website.
The researchers examined freshly laundered linens at 15 transplant and cancer hospitals in the U.S.
At 33 percent of the hospitals, the linens were visibly unclean. At 20 percent of hospitals, Mucorales were recovered from about 10 percent of linens.
Mucormycosis outbreaks have been linked to contaminated linen.