Healthcare facilities usually have considered floors non-critical areas when it comes to cleaning and disinfecting because they were considered an unlikely source for the spread of infection.
But a recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control, has found that floors do harbor dangerous germs and should be reclassified as "critical areas" requiring more thorough cleaning and disinfecting, according to an article on the Cleanzine website.
The researchers' finding included:
* In rooms with a C. diff patient, floors were more likely to be contaminated with any of the three pathogens
* About 41 percent of the rooms had one or more objects touching the floors such as medical devices, bed linens and towels
This second point is illustrates how pathogens on the floor can cause infection. The researchers found that after healthcare workers handled an object in contact with the floor, MRSA was found on 18 percent of the workers' hands and C. diff at 3 percent.
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