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Culturing and Maintaining Clostridium difficile in an Anaerobic Environment
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Culturing and Maintaining Clostridium difficile in an Anaerobic Environment

Published on: September 14, 2013

Gaseous and air decontamination technologies for Clostridium difficile in the healthcare environment

A Davies1, T Pottage, A Bennett

  • 1Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Health Protection Agency, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK. anna.davies@hpa.org.uk

The Journal of Hospital Infection
|December 7, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Hospital-acquired infections from Clostridium difficile are decreasing, but spore resistance remains a challenge. Gaseous decontamination offers a promising supplement to manual cleaning for reducing environmental contamination.

Area of Science:

  • Infection control
  • Environmental hygiene
  • Healthcare-associated infections

Background:

  • Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) rates for MRSA and C. difficile are declining.
  • Clostridium difficile spores exhibit resistance to standard detergents, complicating hospital disinfection protocols.
  • Gaseous decontamination technologies are emerging as potential solutions for environmental disinfection in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of alternative disinfection technologies for reducing C. difficile contamination.
  • To assess the suitability of gaseous decontamination methods as an adjunct to manual cleaning.

Main Methods:

  • Review of three gaseous decontamination technologies: gaseous hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, and ozone.
  • Brief description of air decontamination and UV-based technologies.
  • Assessment of their effectiveness in reducing environmental C. difficile contamination.

Main Results:

  • Gaseous decontamination technologies can effectively reduce environmental contamination when used correctly.
  • These technologies offer a complementary approach to manual cleaning, enhancing disinfection uniformity and viability reduction.
  • Pre-cleaning is a necessary step before employing these gaseous methods.

Conclusions:

  • Gaseous decontamination technologies show potential for decontaminating ward surfaces contaminated with C. difficile.
  • Further extensive field trials are required to ascertain their cost-effectiveness in healthcare settings.
  • Limited in vivo evidence necessitates more research before widespread adoption.

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