A new study from Durham, N.C.-based Duke Medicine revealed that using a combination of chemicals and ultraviolet light to clean patient rooms can cut transmission of four major infection-causing bacteria by a cumulative 30 percent.
The study was conducted at nine hospitals in the Southeast from 2012 to 2014, including three Duke University Health System hospitals, a Veterans Affairs hospital and five smaller community healthcare centers.
The researchers examined how different cleaning methods affected the transmission of four drug-resistant pathogens — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Clostridium difficile and Acinetobacter — among patients who stayed overnight in a room where someone with a known positive culture or infection had previously been treated.
They found the most effective cleaning strategy was to clean with the standard quaternary ammonium disinfectant, followed by a 30 to 50 minute cycle with a portable UV irradiating machine. All total, this method reduced the number of patients who acquired any of the four superbugs or developed an infection by roughly one third over a three-month span.
"This study provides strong evidence that enhanced environmental cleaning can help reduce transmission of dangerous germs to a specific group of at-risk patients," said John A. Jernigan, MD, an expert on healthcare-associated infections with the CDC. "The findings represent an important step forward in understanding the role the hospital environment plays in transmitting infection, but we still have a lot to learn about the impact this specific type of intervention will have for the entire population of hospitalized patients."
Duke researchers will present the findings their study Friday in San Diego at ID Week, an annual meeting of infectious disease experts from around the world.
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