Environmental Surface Cleaning

Dedicated Cleaning Staff Shown to Reduce C. difficile Contamination in Hospital Rooms

With rates and deaths associated with Clostridium difficile at historically high levels, many hospitals have taken extra steps to reduce these infections. New research finds that a dedicated daily cleaning crew who adequately clean and disinfect rooms contaminated by C. ...More
April 9, 2013
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene
Expert Offers Healthcare Setting Surface Disinfection Tips

From hospitals to long-term care facilities, healthcare professionals are finding that healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), such as C. difficile, norovirus and even carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, are becoming more resistant and harder to kill. Recent ...More
December 20, 2012
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene
Hospital Cleaning Protocol Ineffective Against Acinetobacter baumannii

Current hospital cleaning protocol may be inadequate to rid patient rooms of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii, according to a study in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. A team of researchers from the University of Maryland ...More
November 30, 2012
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene
Daily Disinfection of Isolation Rooms Reduces Contamination of Healthcare Workers' Hands

New research demonstrates that daily cleaning of high-touch surfaces in isolation rooms of patients with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) significantly reduces the rate of the pathogens on the hands of healthcare ...More
September 13, 2012
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene, Hand Hygiene
Environmental Hygiene Case Studies

Infection Control Today invited industry members to share mini case studies that reflect real-world situations in which evidence-based strategies were used to address environmental cleaning challenges. ...More
August 30, 2012
Posted in Articles, Environmental Hygiene
Low Levels of Resistant Bacteria Found in Chicago-Area Ambulances

Treatment areas of ambulances fared well when tested for dangerous bacteria, according to a new study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. Approximately 6 percent of sites sampled in Chicago-area ambulances tested positive for ...More
March 29, 2012
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene
Understanding the Physiology of Healthcare Pathogens for Environmental Disinfection

As healthcare workers know, pathogens can survive in the environment for significant periods of time. And if surfaces are not cleaned and disinfected appropriately, these pathogens can be passed on to patients and hospital staff and cause significant, potentially fatal, ...More
February 23, 2012
Posted in Articles, Environmental Hygiene
Clean Spaces, Healthy Patients Project Offers Webinar on Surface Contamination

The first in a series of live webinars available each month as part of the Clean Spaces, Healthy Patients project, will focus on the role of surfaces in the transmission of emerging healthcare-associated pathogens norovirus, Clostridium difficile and Acinetobacter spp. The ...More
February 16, 2012
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene
AHE Offers Webinar on Environmental Cleaning Best Practices

The Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) is offering a webinar, "Best Practices in Environmental Cleaning and Surface Disinfection," on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 at 2 p.m. ET. Best practices involve the use of well-developed checklists, standardized cleaning ...More
February 9, 2012
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene
Asking the Right Questions Guides Solutions to Improving Cleanliness

If we look at the current state of environmental hygiene, what we need to ask ourselves is, “Why is cleanliness still such a problem?” In the past, hospitals have measured cleanliness using patient satisfaction survey responses. There are several pros and cons of this ...More
January 30, 2012
Posted in Articles, Environmental Hygiene