PrepTest 150, Section 3, Question 10
Changes in Britain’s National Health Service have led(58 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- AHospital staff typically(6 more words not shown)
- BHospital patients infected(8 more words not shown)
- CMost hospital staff(11 more words not shown)
- DHospital staff are(13 more words not shown)
- EWater in residential(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
If the washing machine doesn't kill the bacteria, what protects the patients?
The concern makes sense. Hospital laundry machines reach a temperature that kills Acinetobacter; a typical home washing machine does not. Ending the hospital service could leave staff washing their clothes in machines that don't do the same job. The officials nevertheless say patients won't be put at risk.
Perhaps the staff aren't using typical home machines. They might have access to machines that reach the required temperature. Or perhaps another precaution kills the bacteria or prevents exposure. I could even wonder whether the organism can survive in the relevant environment, but we have no fact establishing that it cannot. These are possible ways to answer the concern, not reasons to dismiss it already.
What we’re looking for
To support the officials, we need some protection that remains after the laundry service ends. The key is the patients' risk from this bacterium, not whether home washing is useful in other respects.
Working the answers
- A
Staff immunity doesn't establish patient immunity. Even if workers avoid becoming ill themselves, A doesn't tell us that bacteria on their clothing can't reach patients. The conclusion concerns the patients, so protecting the staff alone doesn't resolve the stated concern.
- B
Isolating infected patients may help contain an infection after it occurs. It doesn't establish that staff clothing won't expose patients in the first place. We need support for the safety of discontinuing this laundry service, not merely a possible response once a patient is infected.
- C
Widespread use of the old service doesn't identify a replacement safeguard. It may make the change more consequential because so many workers used the machines that killed the bacterium. But it gives no reason to think patients remain protected after the service ends.
- DCorrect
Drying provides another opportunity to kill the bacteria. Staff are instructed to use a dryer hot enough to do what a typical home washer cannot. So the failure of the washing stage needn't mean the bacteria remain on the clothes afterward. This is a concrete version of the other-precaution idea. Instructions don't guarantee that everyone follows them, but they supply a relevant protective measure and support the officials' belief.
- E
The other bacteria aren't the unresolved concern. Even if home washers kill every other dangerous type, the passage specifically identifies Acinetobacter as surviving the typical washing temperature. E leaves that gap open rather than giving a reason patients would be protected from it.
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