A study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, compared the efficacy of antimicrobial wipes versus a cloth soaked in a 1,000 ppm chlorine solution for environmental cleaning in healthcare settings.
Researchers conducted a double-crossover study in two different surgical and cardiovascular wards in a teaching hospital over 29 weeks. Surface decontamination was conducted with an antimicrobial wipe or cloth soaked in chlorine after a five-week baseline assessment of microbial bioburden on surfaces. The research team analyzed environmental samples from 11 surfaces weekly. In all, they analyzed 1,566 environmental samples and 1,591 adenosine triphosphate swabs.
The study shows that in general the use of antimicrobial wipes resulted in the largest reduction in the total aerobic and anaerobic counts as compared to baseline data or the use of 1,000 ppm chlorine-soaked cloths.
The use of daily wipe disinfection combined with training significantly reduced multidrug-resistant organisms recovered from surfaces.
"The results demonstrate the superiority of the preimpregnated wipes in significantly decreasing microbial bioburden from high-touch surfaces," study authors concluded.