As a supplement to the latest issue of the American Journal of Infection Control and on the heels of the 2019 APIC conference, Drs. Rutala and Weber stressed that “…hospitals should use a ‘no touch’ device for terminal room decontamination after discharge of patients on contact precautions.”
They went on to state that infection preventionists should review the peer-reviewed literature and choose only devices that:
- With demonstrated bactericidal capability
- Ability to disinfect actual rooms
- Have demonstrated ability to reduce HAIs
The renowned doctors also described what a comprehensive bundle should look like including the following five factors:
- Policies and procedures
- Appropriate cleaning/disinfection products
- Education of staff
- Monitoring of compliance with feedback
- “No touch” disinfection technology
Further, another article by Donskey asked valid questions as to the effectiveness and metrics that go along with UVC disinfection, including:
- Does UVC provide additional benefit over improved standard cleaning?
- Is complete elimination better than almost complete elimination?
- Does daily disinfection of high touch objects add benefit to discharge disinfection?
- Are there practical methods to monitor use?
- Regulation to provide confidence claims are valid?
These papers are important to health care in that important doctors in infection control and epidemiology are stressing the importance of UVC disinfection as well as how to determine effectiveness and monitor usage.
