Cleaning Intervention Cuts C. difficile Acquisition Rates by One-Third

Robert Orenstein, DO, formerly associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Infection Prevention and Control at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and now with Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, has devised an environmental hygiene intervention so successful it has reduced Clostridium difficile acquisition rates by one-third in high-risk units. This deceptively simple intervention involves consistent daily cleaning of all high-touch surfaces with a spore-killing bleach disinfectant wipe for all patients on units with high endemic rates of C. difficile infection (CDI).