Experts Issue Reminders on Proper Usage of Wipes to Reduce Cross-Contamination

Fleming adds, “Too often healthcare personnel do not recognize that some frequently touched surfaces in the environment and patient care equipment are sources for transmission. Ongoing education and monitoring of practices must be conducted by infection preventionists which may include infection control professionals and department management. As part of this activity it is important to identify the frequently touched items and surfaces that are at a greater risk for cross-contamination and set proper cleaning and disinfection protocols. Disinfection of surfaces and items may not just be the responsibility of the environmental services department. Patient-care items and some clinical department-specific surfaces may be the responsibility of the clinical department staff. Therefore protocols and procedures should outline who is responsible for cleaning/disinfection, the frequency for performing tasks and what product to use for disinfection.”

It is up to ES professionals and HCWs to diligently clean environmental surfaces. Maillard says he suspects not all hospital staff understand how to this. “Observations of the use of wipes by HCWs in two different hospitals highlighted the fact that the same wipe was reused on different surfaces,” he says. “These observations enabled us to test accurately the risk of microbial transfer to surfaces and to emphasis the risk of spreading microorganisms rather than removing them. I would say that this is the main risk associated with the use of wipes.”