CloroxPro Blog – Professional Cleaning and Disinfection Insights

Healthcare facilities serve as places where patients can recover and heal, but they also carry an inherent risk of hospital-acquired infection (HAI). Did you know that the next patient admitted to a room that was previously occupied by a patient with a multidrug-resistant bacterial infection can have a 4 times greater risk of becoming infected themselves?This is a particular concern because pathogens like Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) and Candida auris are becoming harder to treat, and novel high consequence infectious diseases (HCID) are emerging rapidly.

These infections can be passed on through contact transmission with contaminated surfaces (e.g. bedrails, door handles, equipment, toilets, a healthcare worker’s hands), common vehicle transmission (e.g. drains, sinks, and supplies), or airborne or droplet transmission. Fortunately, using bleach wipes can significantly reduce such risks, given that bleach can inactivate tough pathogens and has broad disinfection efficacy. But when and where should bleach wipes be used to have the most impact? Overall, an upstream, proactive strategy is needed to reduce risk downstream; recommended occasions for bleach use are outbreak management, all isolation rooms, and all discharge rooms. Let’s look at the reasons behind each one of these in more detail.

Outbreak Management

It’s important to note that depending on the pathogen, even one case of an HCID can be thought of as an outbreak – so enhanced infection prevention and control measures are critical. This includes eliminating surfaces as a source, especially since pathogens can persist on them for extended periods of time. To prevent and manage outbreaks, bleach use, especially in a ready-to-use wipe format, is ideal. Why?

• C. difficile, and some other pathogens, require specific disinfectant chemistries such as sporicidals (like bleach).
• Wipes can help lower the risk of contamination associated with reprocessing or improperly laundered reusable cloths (learn more about this risk here)
• Wipes allow for consistent and effective disinfection, avoiding dilution-control issues.

All Isolation Rooms

When multiple types of disinfection products and/or/wipes are available on staff isolation carts, errors can occur. In fact, one study found that 6 critical errors were made when this was the case. With a variety of products available, staff may be confused by which to use where, and there may be an increased risk of cross-contamination (by using wipes on multiple surfaces), incorrect contact times, and ineffective application. That’s why standardizing isolation room disinfection to one disinfectant that has the broadest kill spectrum (ie. bleach) keeps the process simple for staff and reduces the chance of errors. In the above-mentioned study, the number of critical errors was lowered by 67% once the use of bleach wipes was standardized.

All Discharge Rooms

While the risk for current patients is higher when the previous room-occupant had a bacterial infection as noted above, bleach should be used for cleaning and disinfecting all discharge rooms. This is for a few reasons, for example:

• The pathogen(s) a patient may have had may be unknown
• 1 in 4 rooms were found to be contaminated with C. difficile spores despite terminal disinfection, and over half of patient rooms were contaminated with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in studies, which may be why 20-40% of HAIs occur from direct and indirect contact (e.g., contaminated surfaces).

The good news? Using bleach for all post-discharge rooms has been shown to reduce contamination with C. difficile spores in non-C. difficile rooms by nearly 20%.

Now is the time to adopt a proactive approach. Help prevent infection among patients, staff and visitors with Clorox Healthcare™ Bleach Germicidal Disinfectant Wipes.

Help prevent contamination downstream – choose CloroxPro™

Ready-to-use wipes:

Clorox Healthcare™ Bleach Germicidal Disinfectant Wipes (DIN: 02465671)

A bleach-based formula in an easy-to-use wipe format, with fast disinfection efficacy, favourable surface compatibility and residue profile.* 

• Health Canada registered to kill 66 pathogens.
• Kills C. difficile in 3 minutes, E. coli and Salmonella in 30 seconds and Norovirus in 1 minute.
• Kills viruses in 1 minute and bacteria in 30 seconds.
• C. difficile sporicidal efficacy tested in the presence of 3-part organic soil load.
• Available in clinical canister and EVS bucket wipe size formats.

Clorox Healthcare™ VersaSure® Alcohol-Free Cleaner Disinfectant Wipes (DIN: 02473151)

Alcohol-free quat formula with broad-spectrum disinfection; contact times from 30 seconds to 2 minutes.*

• Kills 50 pathogens in 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
• Kills E. coli, Norovirus and Salmonella in 2 minutes.
• Kills SARS-CoV-2, measles and mumps virus, HIV and Influenza A virus in 30 seconds.
• Non-abrasive, very low residue on surfaces.
• No harsh chemical odour.
• Stays wet for contact time.

*When used as directed on hard non-porous surfaces.

Learn more about CloroxPro™ products that can help safeguard your facility.

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