Dust-driven transmission of carbapenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> during replacing bed linens: a hidden airborne route

Abstract Replacing soiled bed linens is a common practice in intensive care units . We identified dust-driven transmission of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii correlated with changing bed linens by air sampling and genome-based analysis. This uncovers a hidden airborne route, which needs to be considered to design countermeasures against multidrug-resistant organisms.