Clean Sweep Group, a California-based microbial disinfection service company, has made significant progress helping two California hospitals to reduce deadly infections.
Using ultra-violet (UV-C) germ-killing advanced disinfection devices, Clean Sweep has reduced deadly Clostridium difficile infections.
In abstracts presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Spring 2015 conference held May 14-17 in Orlando, Florida, Clean Sweep and partnering hospitals showed a 46.2 percent and 25 percent reduction of healthcare-acquired Clostridium difficile in two separate six month studies.
"A patient's bacteria can still infect other patients long after they have left the hospital. Surfaces can remain contaminated for months, especially with Clostridium difficile (CDI),” said Mark House, executive vice president of operations of CSGI, a company specializing in proper implementation of UV-C, contracted for the studies.
“The IRiS ultraviolet light disinfection devices automatically measure the room's dimensions and deliver a calculated dosage of UV-C light to kill CDI and other infection-causing germs," he added.
The germ-killing device, named the IRiS 3200m, emits UV-C in hospital rooms as a secondary disinfection step after janitorial services have performed their usual cleaning duties.
The prevalence of Clostridium difficile infections is rising at a time when hospitals are under national pressure to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and other patient safety measures.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have tied a portion of hospitals' reimbursement to reflect the quality of healthcare services provided, as indicated by measures like Clostridium difficile infection incidence.
Leo Williams, president of CSGI, said: ”This is exciting data for public health. These studies describe an effective disinfection process to significantly improve an issue hospitals have faced for years.
"Preventing infections is critical for hospital finances, but more importantly, it means we send more healthy patients back to loved ones."
Clean Sweep Group, US, SHEA, CMS
