A three-step intervention that included a dedicated disinfection team reduced the rate of Clostridium difficile infection in a hospital by 89 percent, according to a study in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
Researchers studied the effect of sequential cleaning and disinfection interventions implemented over 21 months on CDI rates in a Veterans Affairs hospital. The interventions included the following:
1. Fluorescent markers to monitor and provide feedback on thoroughness of cleaning facility-wide.
2. Automated ultraviolet radiation device for adjunctive disinfection of CDI rooms.
3. Standard disinfection of CDI rooms including a dedicated daily disinfection team and a process requiring supervisory assessment and clearance of terminally cleaned CDI rooms.
Cultures from the CDI rooms after cleaning and disinfection revealed that all three steps reduced CDI rates from the baseline of 67 percent:
• The first intervention reduced the percentage of positive cultures from CDI rooms to 57 percent — a 14-percent reduction.
• The second intervention reduced the rate of CDI to 35 percent — a 48-percent reduction.
• The third intervention cut the CDI rate to 7 percent — a reduction of 89 percent.
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Researchers studied the effect of sequential cleaning and disinfection interventions implemented over 21 months on CDI rates in a Veterans Affairs hospital. The interventions included the following:
1. Fluorescent markers to monitor and provide feedback on thoroughness of cleaning facility-wide.
2. Automated ultraviolet radiation device for adjunctive disinfection of CDI rooms.
3. Standard disinfection of CDI rooms including a dedicated daily disinfection team and a process requiring supervisory assessment and clearance of terminally cleaned CDI rooms.
Cultures from the CDI rooms after cleaning and disinfection revealed that all three steps reduced CDI rates from the baseline of 67 percent:
• The first intervention reduced the percentage of positive cultures from CDI rooms to 57 percent — a 14-percent reduction.
• The second intervention reduced the rate of CDI to 35 percent — a 48-percent reduction.
• The third intervention cut the CDI rate to 7 percent — a reduction of 89 percent.
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