Healthcare-associated Infections
Area Decontamination – Safeguarding Patient Health Philippe Destrez
Research and Development Officer, Advanced Sterilization Products
Abstract
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) continue to pose serious risks to patient safety. It is estimated that 4.1 million people acquire an infection every year in Europe, resulting in 37,000 deaths.1
There is a growing body of evidence that suggests the environment
plays an important role in the transmission of HAIs, e.g., Clostridium difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).2 Conventional disinfection methods of spraying and wiping do not fully protect patients, healthcare professionals or communities against pathogens such as MRSA, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), Acinetobacter baumanni or C. difficile, which are key drivers of
environmental HAIs. Area decontamination systems like GLOSAIR™, that use a combination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and silver cations are a proven method for reducing bioburden during routine preventative decontamination as well as for treating HAIs during outbreaks.3 Keywords
Area decontamination, GLOSAIR™, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), environmental HAIs, safe, effective, convenient
Disclosure: Philippe Destrez is an employee of Advanced Sterilization Products. Received: 13 July 2011 Accepted: 27 July 2011 Citation: European Infectious Disease, 2011;5(2):118–20 Correspondence: Philippe Destrez, Research and Development Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Advanced Sterilization Products, Rue Camille Desmoulins, Issy les Moulineaux, Cedex 9, 92787 France. E:
pdestrez@its.jnj.com
Support: The publication of this article was supported by Advanced Sterilization Products.
The Issue – Healthcare-associated Infections Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) continue to pose serious risks to patient safety. In Europe, it is estimated that 4.1 million people acquire an infection in the healthcare setting, resulting in 37,000 deaths each year.1
estimated at €5.48 billion,4
Annual costs of HAIs in the EU have been while other data estimate the cost of
Clostridium difficile alone at €3 billion.1
require more treatment and experience higher mortality rates than those who do not contract an HAI.6,7
HAIs place an additional and unnecessary clinical burden on patients who are already in poor health and experiencing compromised quality of life. Patients who contract HAIs tend to spend extra time in hospital, typically ranging between five and 40 extra days per infection,5
Preventing the spread of an HAI outbreak is also burdensome for hospital staff and results in disruption to the operation of the hospital. Infected patients require additional time from healthcare professionals, diagnostic tests, medications and other interventions, which takes time and resources away from treating other patients. All this equates to a significant economic burden. The cost to an individual hospital depends on the type of infection, but broadly ranges from €694 to €13,880 per infected patient.8
The majority of these costs (52 %) are associated with extra nursing time and medical care.9
Twenty to 30 % of HAIs are preventable through the implementation of intensive hygiene and infection control programmes,10
which is
why guidelines worldwide favour a proactive approach to infection prevention rather than reactive management of existing infections.
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The Role of the Environment in Transmission of Healthcare-associated Infections
There is a growing body of evidence that suggests the hospital environment plays an important part in the transmission of HAIs, including infections caused by pathogens like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Acinetobacter baumannii, Serratia marcescens, C. difficile and norovirus.2
There are three modes of
infection transfer: contact with an infected human, contact with a contaminated instrument or contact with a contaminated environment. Cross-contamination can also occur between these different sources of infection.
Furthermore, some manual cleaning products contain dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, which can result in safety concerns for both hospital staff and patients alike.12
Recent evidence suggests that traditional manual disinfection often results in incomplete cleaning and poor decontamination, particularly in high-touch and hard-to-reach areas and may not be sufficient to kill MRSA.11
While steam cleaning methods are effective for cleaning and reducing bioburden (to some extent) on different types of surfaces, they can be ineffective against spores. C. difficile spores and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) for example, can survive for weeks in the hospital environment.13
In order to address the burden of HAIs, a number of novel
area decontamination technologies such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) decontamination systems have been developed. H2O2 is a well-known oxidising agent that kills microorganisms via the hydroxyl free radical.
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2011
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