MONDAY, June 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Use of ultraviolet environmental disinfection (UVD) following discharge cleaning of contact precautions rooms is associated with a significant reduction in overall hospital-acquired multiple-drug-resistant organism (MDRO) and Clostridium difficile (CD) incidence, according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.
Janet P. Haas, Ph.D., R.N., from the Westchester Medical Center Department of Infection Prevention and Control in Valhalla, N.Y., and colleagues conducted a retrospective study of the implementation of UVD following discharge cleaning of contact precautions rooms and high-risk areas. They compared the incidence rates of hospital-acquired MDROs and CD before and during UVD use.
The researchers found that UVD was used 11,389 times. Thirty-four percent of UVD uses were for contact precautions discharges, and UVD was used for 76 percent of these discharges. During the 22-month UVD period, there was a significant 20 percent decrease in hospital-acquired MDRO plus CD rates, compared with the 30-month pre-UVD period (2.14 versus 2.67 cases per 1,000 patient days; rate ratio, 0.80; P < 0.001).
"During the time period UVD was in use, there was a significant decrease in overall hospital-acquired MDRO plus CD in spite of missing 24 percent of opportunities to disinfect contact precautions rooms," the authors write. "This technology was feasible to use in our acute care setting and appeared to have a beneficial effect."
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