An aggressive environmental swabbing technique for testing commonly touched surfaces and objects in intensive care unit settings may be a more effective method to rapidly identify which superbugs are present and pose a risk to patient safety, according to an American Journal of Infection Control study.
A group of researchers from the University of Western Sydney in Campbelltown, New South Wales, were able to identify 13 types of multidrug-resistant organisms using two types of commercially available adenosine triphosphate bioluminometers. They found that many clinical staff work areas harbored dangerous pathogens in addition to areas frequented by patients.
"The findings of this study suggest the need to review the hygiene standards adopted in the clinical workspace, away from the immediate patient zones in busy ICUs, and indicate that ATP testing may help identify [high-touch objects] with less than optimal cleanliness," the authors conclude. "Better monitoring of cleaning may improve the surface hygiene outcomes from effective cleaning protocols applied to all HTOs within and around clinical work areas inside ICUs."