A 'Tuba Drain' incorporated in sink drains reduces counts of antibiotic-resistant bacterial species at the plughole: a blinded, randomized trial in 36 sinks in a hospital outpatient department with a low prevalence of sink colonization by antibiotic-resistant species.

Background: Multi-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) survive in hospital drains in traps that contain water and may ascend into the sink because of splashes, or biofilm growth.

Aim: To investigate whether the 'Tuba Drain' (TD) a long, bent, continually descending copper tube between the sink outlet and the trap prevents the ascent of bacteria.

Methods: After initial laboratory tests confirmed that the TD prevented bacteria in the U-bend from splashing upwards into the sink outlet, TDs were assessed in a randomized, blinded trial in a hospital outpatient department built in 2019.