Can I launder these contaminated towels, or do I have to throw them away?

My first hit: https://www.staph-infection-resources.com/prevention/infection-control/

“How to disinfect, clean and kill MRSA”

A hot wash and then tumble dried and they should be fine.

The advice below from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website is quite straightforward and reassuring:

MRSA can spread on laundry like sheets, towels, and clothing. Keep laundry clean to prevent MRSA from spreading.

Effective Laundry Procedures

Routine laundry procedures, detergents, and laundry additives will all help to make clothes, towels, and linens safe to wear or touch. If items have been contaminated by infectious material (like blood or puss), they can be laundered separately, but it is not absolutely necessary.

Proper Water Temperature

In general, wash and dry in the warmest temperatures recommended on the clothing label. Hot water washing is not necessary to remove MRSA from laundry. Read and follow the clothing and soap or detergent label instructions. Water temperatures for household laundry depend on the type of fiber or fabric of the clothing. Also, some laundry detergents are made to clean best at certain temperatures. Not following instructions could damage the clothing item or decrease the effectiveness of the detergent.

Using Bleach for Laundry

It is not necessary to use bleach for each load of laundry. Detergent alone will make laundry clean and safe for wear and use. Use of bleach as a disinfectant in laundering is optional, and not all fabrics are suitable for bleach. Read the clothing label instructions.

For what it’s worth, rubbing alcohol will kill MRSA. Especially helpful on the skin.

Hot wash and hot tumble dry. If you’re concerned, wash them twice.

I would do all of it if I used a towel I cared about, boil/bleach/hot dryer. I would probably use a single towel and discard it though.

Thanks, @all. The infection cleared up as expected, with meds and care at the site. The towels are the only remnant now (aside from a lingering but shrinking bump on my arm), and there is no visible residue on them. Sounds like if I do a hot laundry with bleach, that should suffice.

As I read it, I don’t need to worry about putting them in the washer with other items.

My husband had it once and all I did was wash everything in hot water and soap. I slept in the same bed for months before knowing that was his problem. We thought it was a simple infection from a rash gone bad from when we went to a beach. I was just washing things like I always wash them. Of course, once I knew we only used white towels and I would use hot water and bleach. As for clothing just soap and water and we always covered his wound with new clean gauze and wrap, so the infected part wouldn’t touch anything.
Funny thing is I just read how contagious it is and we even had sex and it can be transmitted that way. Never got it. Weird. Now I wonder if it was even mrsa or if the doctor was just being careful. He had been on antibotics that just weren’t working and then she said it was MRSA and gave him stronger antibotics for a few weeks and steroid shots. I don’t remember her doing a biopsy or anything. She was a specialist so we just took her word.

It’s possible the bacteria is still around you or on your skin anyway. It’s when we get a break in the skin that troubles can happen. Although, supposedly only a small percentage of people carry MRSA.

I’d wash everything well and a hot dry. If the towels are white you could add some bleach or for colors add vinegar. Or, if you’re second guessing go ahead and throw out the towels you used during the infection and buy new. Why worry about it? It’s the same to me as throwing out food that I think is on its last day rather than eat it. My husband would probably eat it, but I dump it. It happens so rarely I don’t fret about the money loss.

Make sure towels dry well when you use them, hang them flat not folded, so they dry quickly and thoroughly. That’s probably not as a big of a problem in your dry climate. Here in Florida a bathing suit can still be wet 24 hours later.

I had a MRSA infection and reported it to the CDC. They wrote back and said I contracted it from another human. That was wrong!
Be wary of bar soap that is changing color. In my instance it was aloe based bar soap.

It is overkill, but there’s no drawbacks outside of aging your laundry faster: Use pool chlorine in your washer (1 tablespoon). That’ll kill anything. It’s so strong, you’ll need to ventilate your laundry room to prevent chloramine gas from sticking around.