A successful cleaning and disinfection regime can only cut the root cause of microbiological contamination incidents.

FREMONT, CA: Careful cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces are vital elements of effective infection prevention. However, conventional manual cleaning and disinfection practices in healthcare facilities are often suboptimal. Failure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for disinfectant usage and lack of antimicrobial activity of disinfectants against healthcare-associated pathogens may also impact the efficacy of disinfection practices. Many people look for highly technical solutions to achieve microbiological controls; however, it is the basics that will bring the greatest contribution to the management of contamination and ensure the safe handling of the environment.

Effective resourcing is essential, and the planning of cleaning activities to ensure that reservoirs or sources of bacterial contamination are evaluated and removed along with the sources of nutrients they will require to survive and proliferate. This removal of waste will then allow an effective application of disinfectant, which will have a chance to reach any population. A common mistake is for debris to remain on surfaces which can act as a protective limitation shielding bacterial populations and hindering access by the biocidal products resulting in survival, proliferation and, the formation of a biofilm which can be complex to successfully remove without the use of detergent products and protracted cleaning times.

The establishment of bacterial populations is rarely an issue unless this has been enabling to occur on food contact surfaces or in a zone where direct contamination is possible. Means of translocation of bacterial populations from the reservoir point to contact surfaces must be identified and handled. Verification and monitoring of hygiene practices are as crucial as the correct opting of both detergents and disinfectants, with all involved being fully aware of what the results of any test technologies are telling them and the implications to safety. Whether a simple contamination detection spray or an instrument based system is used to quantify the amount of microbial infection present and therefore a non-specific reading of the organic material present after cleaning is deployed, the verification of hygiene is part of ensuring that safety KPI’s are met.