Hospital cleaning protocols ineffective against A. Baumannii, study reveals
Multi-drug resistant A.Baumannii very difficult to eradicate
Current hospital cleaning protocols may be inadequate at removing multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii from hospital patient rooms, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control.
A team of researchers from the University of Maryland in the US collected 487 cultures from 32 hospital rooms occupied by just-discharged patients with a known history of MDR A. baumannii both before and after the rooms had been cleaned. More than half of the rooms showing positive for the A. baumannii bacteria prior to cleaning remained contaminated after the final cleaning had taken place.
Fifteen rooms (46.9%) and 41 sites (n=268, 15.3%) tested positive for MDR A. baumannii before cleaning. Post-cleaning, eight rooms (25%) and 12 sites (n=219, 5.5%) still tested positive for the pathogen. Post-cleaning contamination included the floor (12.5%), call button (10%), door handle (9.4%) bedside table (7.4%), and supply cart (3.8%).
“Persistent room contamination serves as a potential reservoir for transmission and colonisation of future room occupants,” the authors said. “Current cleaning techniques in terms of products used or thoroughness of cleaning may not be adequate in the decontamination of this pathogen.”
Acinetobacter baumannii has become increasingly prevalent in healthcare facilities and is resistant to most antibiotics
Acinetobacter baumannii has become increasingly prevalent in healthcare facilities and is resistant to most antibiotics. Infections from this pathogen primarily occur in very ill, wounded, or immunocompromised patients. The germ can remain on wet or dry surfaces for longer than most other organisms, making it harder to eradicate.
“This study shows how difficult it is to ensure removal of particularly resistant organisms from the environment even upon thorough discharge cleaning,” said Anthony Harris, lead study author and professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
“With new, innovative means of monitoring cleaning processes that we have incorporated since the study was done, coupled with other infection control efforts, we are seeing lower rates of A. baumannii at our hospital.”
The effect of terminal cleaning on environmental contamination rates of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii, by Paula Strassle, Kerri A. Thom, J. Kristie Johnson, Surbhi Leekha, Matthew Lissauer, Jingkun Zhu and Anthony D. Harris appears in the American Journal of Infection Control, Volume 40, Issue 10 (December 2012).