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15 results

  • Microbial bioburden of inpatient and outpatient areas beyond patient hospital rooms

  • Jennifer L. Cadnum, Basya S. Pearlmutter, Annette L. Jencson, Hanan Haydar, Michelle T. Hecker, Amy J. Ray, Myreen E. Tomas, Elie A. Saade, Curtis J. Donskey
  • Journal:
    Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 43 / Issue 8 / August 2022
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    23 July 2021, pp. 1017-1021
    Print publication:
    August 2022
  • Objective:

    To investigate the frequency of environmental contamination in hospital areas outside patient rooms and in outpatient healthcare facilities.

    Design:

    Culture survey.

    Setting:

    This study was conducted across 4 hospitals, 4 outpatient clinics, and 1 surgery center.

    Methods:

    We conducted 3 point-prevalence culture surveys for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Clostridioides difficile, Candida spp, and gram-negative bacilli including Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in each facility. In hospitals, high-touch surfaces were sampled from radiology, physical therapy, and mobile equipment and in emergency departments, waiting rooms, clinics, and endoscopy facilities. In outpatient facilities, surfaces were sampled in exam rooms including patient and provider areas, patient bathrooms, and waiting rooms and from portable equipment. Fluorescent markers were placed on high-touch surfaces and removal was assessed 1 day later.

    Results:

    In the hospitals, 110 (9.4%) of 1,195 sites were positive for 1 or more bacterial pathogens (range, 5.3%–13.7% for the 4 hospitals) and 70 (5.9%) were positive for Candida spp (range, 3.7%–5.9%). In outpatient facilities, 31 of 485 (6.4%) sites were positive for 1 or more bacterial pathogens (range, 2% to 14.4% for the 5 outpatient facilities) and 50 (10.3%) were positive for Candida spp (range, 3.9%–23.3%). Fluorescent markers had been removed from 33% of sites in hospitals (range, 28.4%–39.7%) and 46.3% of sites in outpatient clinics (range, 7.4%–82.8%).

    Conclusions:

    Surfaces in hospitals outside patient rooms and in outpatient facilities are frequently contaminated with healthcare-associated pathogens. Improvements in cleaning and disinfection practices are needed to reduce contamination.

  • Effect of Variation in Test Methods on Performance of Ultraviolet-C Radiation Room Decontamination

  • Jennifer L. Cadnum, Myreen E. Tomas, Thriveen Sankar, Annette Jencson, J. Itty Mathew, Sirisha Kundrapu, Curtis J. Donskey
  • Journal:
    Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 37 / Issue 5 / May 2016
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    26 January 2016, pp. 555-560
    Print publication:
    May 2016
    • Article
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  • OBJECTIVE

    To determine the effect of variation in test methods on performance of an ultraviolet-C (UV-C) room decontamination device.

    DESIGN

    Laboratory evaluation.

    METHODS

    We compared the efficacy of 2 UV-C room decontamination devices with low pressure mercury gas bulbs. For 1 of the devices, we evaluated the effect of variation in spreading of the inoculum, carrier orientation relative to the device, type of organic load, type of carrier, height of carrier, and uninterrupted versus interrupted exposures on measured UV-C killing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile spores.

    RESULTS

    The 2 UV-C room decontamination devices achieved similar log10 colony-forming unit reductions in the pathogens with exposure times ranging from 5 to 40 minutes. On steel carriers, spreading of the inoculum over a larger surface area significantly enhanced killing of both pathogens, such that a 10-minute exposure on a 22-mm2 disk resulted in greater than 2 log reduction in C. difficile spores. Orientation of carriers in parallel rather than perpendicular with the UV-C lamps significantly enhanced killing of both pathogens. Different types of organic load also significantly affected measured organism reductions, whereas type of carrier, variation in carrier height, and interrupted exposure cycles did not.

    CONCLUSIONS

    Variation in test methods can significantly impact measured reductions in pathogens by UV-C devices during experimental testing. Our findings highlight the need for standardized laboratory methods for testing the efficacy of UV-C devices and for evaluations of the efficacy of short UV-C exposure times in real-world settings.

    Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:555–560