David J Weber, William A Rutala, Emily E Sickbert-Bennett, Hajime Kanamori, Deverick Anderson, CDC Prevention Epicenters Program
Author Information
David J Weber: Department of Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Electronic address: dweber@unch.unc.edu.
William A Rutala: Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Emily E Sickbert-Bennett: Department of Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Hajime Kanamori: Department of Infection Control and Laboratory Diagnostics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Deverick Anderson: Division of Infectious Diseases, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
The contaminated surface environment in the rooms of hospitalized patients is an important risk factor for the colonization and infection of patients with multidrug-resistant pathogens. Improved terminal cleaning and disinfection have been demonstrated to reduce the incidence of health care-associated infections. In the United States, hospitals generally perform daily cleaning and disinfection of patient rooms. However, cleaning and disinfection are limited by the presence of the patient in room (eg, current ultraviolet devices and hydrogen peroxide systems cannot be used) and the fact that after disinfection pathogenic bacteria rapidly recolonize surfaces and medical devices/equipment. For this reason, there has been great interest in developing methods of continuous room disinfection and/or "self-disinfecting" surfaces. This study will review the research on self-disinfecting surfaces (eg, copper-coated surfaces and persistent chemical disinfectants) and potential new room disinfection methods (eg, "blue light" and diluted hydrogen peroxide systems).
