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| Bill Rutala |
Healthcare-associated
infections are an important source of morbidity and mortality with an estimated
1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths annually in the United States. The major source of healthcare-associated
pathogens is thought to be the patient’s endogenous flora, but an estimated 20%
being due to other transmission routes such as the environment and 20-40%
attributed to cross-infection via the contaminated hands of healthcare
personnel [1].
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| David Weber |
A
Special Editor of the American Journal of
Infection Control, which was primarily developed from a symposia presented
at the APIC annual meeting in 2012, provides concise reviews of the scientific
literature and current guidelines in three important areas of infection
control. First, the role that the
contaminated room environment plays in the transmission of several important
healthcare-associated pathogens (e.g., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA], vancomycin-resistant
Enterococcus spp. [VRE], Clostridium difficile, and Acinetobacter spp.). Second, an update of issues regarding skin
antisepsis including hand hygiene.
Finally, reviews of new current issues in sterilization and disinfection
of medical devices and instruments including new technologies.
In
the past decade, substantial scientific evidence has clearly demonstrated that
contaminated room surfaces are an important component in the transmission of
key healthcare-associated pathogens.
Evidence supporting this view includes that these pathogens persist in
the environment for prolonged periods of time (hours, days, months), frequent
contamination occurs of the hands/gloves of healthcare personnel, contact with
the environment is equally likely to lead to hand/glove contamination, and
admission to a room previously occupied by a patient colonized or infected with
one of these pathogens increases the risk the subsequent patient will develop
an infection with one of these pathogens.
