Contamination of the environment around patients can be a MRSA risk, A recent study of looked at the effect of introducing a universal disinfection wipe in all wards on the rates of MRSA acquisitions, according to an article on the Infection Control website.
From April 2013 to April 2016, cleaning of ward areas and multi-use patient equipment by nursing staff consisted of a two-wipe system. Firstly, a detergent wipe was used, which was followed by a disinfection step using an alcohol wipe.
In May 2016, the facility discontinued the use of a two-wipe system for cleaning and changed to a one wipe system using a combined cleaning and disinfection wipe containing a quaternary ammonium compound.
The researchers found that the average hospital acquisition rate of MRSA/100,000 patient bed days reduced by 6.3 percent per month after the introduction of the new universal wipe.
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