Spread of bacteria on surfaces when cleaning with microfibre cloths

Bergen, Leo; Meyer, Mariana T.; Høg, M.; Rubenhagen, B; Andersen, L. P.

doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2008.10.025

Cited by 60 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Poor choice of cleaning methods or products or inadequate maintenance of equipment will result in environmental contamination of the very surfaces that need attention. There are numerous examples of cleaning cloths, including those made of microfiber, that merely distribute organisms across surfaces instead of removing them (26,120,142,(147)(148)(149). Enterococci, including VRE, seem to be particularly difficult to eliminate from contaminated cloths (51,147,148).…”

Section: Contamination Of Cleaning Equipment and Liquidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling Hospital-Acquired Infection: Focus on the Role of the Environment and New Technologies for Decontamination

2014

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SUMMARY There is increasing interest in the role of cleaning for managing hospital-acquired infections (HAI). Pathogens such as vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), multiresistant Gram-negative bacilli, norovirus, and Clostridium difficile persist in the health care environment for days. Both detergent- and disinfectant-based cleaning can help control these pathogens, although difficulties with measuring cleanliness have compromised the quality of published evidence. Traditional cleaning methods are notoriously inefficient for decontamination, and new approaches have been proposed, including disinfectants, steam, automated dispersal systems, and antimicrobial surfaces. These methods are difficult to evaluate for cost-effectiveness because environmental data are not usually modeled against patient outcome. Recent studies have reported the value of physically removing soil using detergent, compared with more expensive (and toxic) disinfectants. Simple cleaning methods should be evaluated against nonmanual disinfection using standardized sampling and surveillance. Given worldwide concern over escalating antimicrobial resistance, it is clear that more studies on health care decontamination are required. Cleaning schedules should be adapted to reflect clinical risk, location, type of site, and hand touch frequency and should be evaluated for cost versus benefit for both routine and outbreak situations. Forthcoming evidence on the role of antimicrobial surfaces could supplement infection prevention strategies for health care environments, including those targeting multidrug-resistant pathogens.

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Section: Contamination Of Cleaning Equipment and Liquidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling Hospital-Acquired Infection: Focus on the Role of the Environment and New Technologies for Decontamination

2014

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“…There are numerous examples of contaminated cleaning cloths and equipment that spread microbes across surfaces rather than removing them [17][18][19][20][21][22]. This has encouraged disinfectant use, which kills pathogens but can be expensive and environmentally unfriendly [23,24].…”

Section: Novel Disinfectantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dos and don’ts for hospital cleaning

Dancer

2016

Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases

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Purpose of review More evidence is emerging on the role of cleaning and decontamination for reducing hospital-acquired infection. Timely and adequate removal of environmental pathogens leads to measurable clinical benefits for patients. This article considers studies published from 2013 examining hospital decontamination technologies and evidence for cost-effectiveness. Recent findings Novel biocides and cleaning products, antimicrobial coatings, monitoring practices and automated equipment are widely accessible. They do not necessarily remove all environmental pathogens, however, and most have yet to be comprehensively assessed against patient outcome. Some studies are confounded by concurrent infection control and/or antimicrobial stewardship initiatives. Few contain data on costs. Summary As automated dirt removal is assumed to be superior to human effort, there is a danger that traditional cleaning methods are devalued or ignored. Fear of infection encourages use of powerful disinfectants for eliminating real or imagined pathogens in hospitals without appreciating toxicity or cost benefit. Furthermore, efficacy of these agents is compromised without prior removal of organic soil. Microbiocidal activity should be compared and contrasted against physical removal of soil in standardized and controlled studies to understand how best to manage contaminated healthcare environments.

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“…Each table was rubbed three times for each method by two trained researchers, so the results would accurately reflect the efficiency of the friction techniques and of the disinfectant used, since they could be adversely influenced by inadequate cleaning/disinfection practices performed by the professionals of the studied unit. 12,16 We also point out that the disinfection was performed on a single type of surface (Formica®). Due to scarce financial resources, we could not perform the quantification of total aerobic colonies on the surfaces, which could have contributed to a better understanding of the cleaning/disinfection process with the tested techniques.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…16 We used nonprobability convenience sampling. However, to ensure the reproducibility of the friction techniques, we based this research on a previous study; 16 therefore, each experiment was repeated 13 times before and 13 after the cleaning/disinfection, applying friction three times, using a new cloth for each bedside table. We highlight that a new side of the cloth was used for each of the three frictions per technique (unidirectional, bidirectional and centrifugal) and table.…”

Section: Selected Surfacementioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Three Surface Friction Techniques for the Removal of Organic Matter

Rigotti

Ferreira²,

Nogueira

et al. 2015

Texto contexto - enferm.

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The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of three surface friction techniques for the removal of organic material. A quantitative, descriptive and exploratory study was developed to evaluate the presence or not of organic material before and after the cleaning and disinfection process of surfaces of bedside tables of patients hospitalized at an Intensive Care Unit. Three friction techniques were executed in the one-way, two-way and centrifugal sense, individually, three times on each table, during alternate weeks. For each patient unit and friction technique, a single table and three sides of cloth were used, moistened with 70% (w/v) alcohol. The organic matter was detected through the presence of adenosine triphosphate by bioluminescence, using 3M(tm) Clean-Trace(tm) ATP Systems. For each technique, 13 samples were collected before and 13 after the cleaning/disinfection process, totaling 78 samples of adenosine triphosphate by bioluminescence. No statistically significant difference was found among the removal techniques of organic matter. This study demonstrated that none of the three surface friction methods was better than the other to remove organic matter. Nevertheless, further research is needed in which other cleaning/disinfection indicators and surfaces are considered.

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Spread of bacteria on surfaces when cleaning with microfibre cloths

Cited by 60 publications

References 5 publications

Controlling Hospital-Acquired Infection: Focus on the Role of the Environment and New Technologies for Decontamination

Controlling Hospital-Acquired Infection: Focus on the Role of the Environment and New Technologies for Decontamination

Dos and don’ts for hospital cleaning

Evaluation of Three Surface Friction Techniques for the Removal of Organic Matter

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