By Healthcare Facilities Today

While nearly half of the surfaces in healthcare facilities are soft surfaces, such as privacy curtains, soft surface decontamination is often overlooked in today’s fast-paced healthcare environment, according to an article on the Infection Control Today website.

Studies have shown that just as on hard, nonporous surfaces, bacteria, viruses, and fungi can all thrive on soft surfaces for extended periods of time and contribute to the transmission of microorganisms, the article said.

According to a recent survey administered by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) which asked how often privacy curtains in their facilities are cleaned, 37 percent of respondents answered “only when visibly soiled,” 13 percent answered “every month,” 13 percent answered “every three months” and another 13 percent answered “once per year.”

If left unaddressed, contaminated soft surfaces can pose a risk of infection and can undermine any hard surface disinfection routines your facility may have as well as put patients, families and staff at risk, according to the article.

Read the article.