Long-acting water-stable organosilane agent and its sustained effect on reducing microbial load in an intensive care unit

• Published in: American journal of infection control 2017-11, Vol.45 (11), p.1214-1217
• Main Authors: Fitton, Katie, Barber, Kimberly R., Karamon, Alison, Zuehlke, Nate, Atwell, Sara, Enright, Susan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacterial Load; Colony Count, Microbial; Cross Infection - prevention & control; Disinfectants - therapeutic use; Double-Blind Method; Environmental services; Environmental stewardship; HAI; High-touch surfaces; Humans; Intensive Care Units - standards; Staphylococcus - growth & development
• ISSN: 0196-6553; 1527-3296
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.06.014

Contaminated hospital surfaces contribute significantly to the transmission of health care-associated infections. Although disinfectants reduce bioburden by up to 99%, bacterial growth can rebound within hours to precleaning levels. We tested the effectiveness of an innovative, long-acting water-stable organosilane (WSO) to achieve sustained decreases in bioburden on hard surfaces. A 5-month prospective, randomized, double-blind controlled study was performed. Eighteen intensive care unit rooms were randomly divided into placebo or treatment groups. Hard surfaces in all rooms were cleaned using the same protocol, except the placebo surfaces were cleaned with an inert saline solution and the treatment surfaces were treated with the WSO. Binomial regression with repeated measures were used to assess mean reductions in total bioburden as measured by colony forming units. The placebo resulted in average reductions in total colony forming units of 35% to 40% (relative risk reduction [RRR], 0.65; P