Standardising the testing of disinfectant wipes

There has been quite a bit of discussion lately about the suitability of laboratory testing methods for wipes. This is a crucial issue, and may explain to a large degree the differences in wipe performed when tested in parallel. For example, a study of wipes with sporicidal claims found that few actually demonstrated meaningful sporicidal activity! A recent…

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Evidence of source control for XDR Acinetobacter outbreak management grows

There is a steadily growing body of evidence that chlorhexidine washcloths can be effective in controlling multi-resistant Gram-negatives. Hot on the heels of a paper that demonstrated the effectiveness of the in controlling spread of Acinetobacter in a critical care unit1 comes a further paper relating to a hospital-wide outbreak of multi-resistant Acinetobacter. A new paper2 from Gray…

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Wiping away contamination? Don’t be so sure!

An excellent study from the Maillard group has put a range of detergent wipes through their paces. The keys findings are that there was a surprising degree of difference in performance between the wipes. But all of them had a nasty tendency to spread contamination rather than remove it! The study team put 7 different wipes through…

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Contamination of the air: cause or effect?

There’s an ever increasing wealth of data that contamination of hospital surfaces are important in the transmission of key hospital pathogens. However, the importance of contaminated air in the transmission of these pathogens is much less certain. There are some pathogens – like measles – for which airborne spread is by far the most important route. But…

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Lanyard study

A recent study from Newcastle Upon Tyne hospital has highlighted the problem of microorganism colonisation on hospital badges and neck lanyards within the theatre environment. It was found that 25% of badges and lanyards were colonised with potential pathogens associated with Healthcare Associated Infections. After the introduction of Clinell Universal Wipes there was a 100% reduction in…

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