May 21 2015
Clean Sweep Group Inc. (CSGI), a Beverly Hills, CA, based microbial disinfection service company, joins with two California hospitals to significantly reduce deadly Clostridium difficile infections caught in their hospitals using ultraviolet (UV-C) germ-killing advanced disinfection devices.
In abstracts presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Spring 2015 conference held May 14-17 in Orlando, Florida, Clean Sweep Group Inc. (CSGI) and partnering hospitals showed a 46.2% and 24.95% 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). The IRiSTM 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," stated Mark House, Executive VP of Operations of CSGI, a company specializing in proper implementation of UV-C, contracted for the studies.
The germ-killing device, named the IRiSTM 3200m, emits UV-C in hospital rooms as a secondary disinfection step after janitorial services have performed their usual cleaning duties.
"Clostridium difficile produces spores that are easily spread throughout the environment. These spores are resistant to many surface disinfectants used in the healthcare setting. This creates an increased risk for patients, and presents a tremendous challenge to the Clinical, Environmental Service and Infection Control teams," stated one study's co-author Nathanael Napolitano, MPH, BS.
The prevalence of Clostridium difficile infections are 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.
"This is exciting data for public health. These studies describe an effective disinfection process to significantly improve an issue hospitals have faced for years," said CSGI President Leo Williams.
Williams continued, "Preventing infections is critical for hospital finances, but more importantly, it means we send more healthy patients back to loved ones."
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