MRSA reduction with chlorine dioxide

There is a growing body of evidence to support the efficacy of disinfection with chlorine dioxide in the fight against healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). One Trust has achieved significant reductions in MRSA rates resulting in major cost-savings by implementing this disinfecting agent in its environmental cleaning process. Suzanne Callander and Louise Frampton report.

There is a great deal of evidence to show that antibiotic resistant micro-organisms are able to survive in the hospital environment. These organisms can infect patients and contribute to increased mortality, morbidity and increased length of hospital stays for patients. Surfaces in hospitals can become contaminated with a range of organisms associated with HCAIs. Staphylococcus aureus, for example, is an organism adapted to living on the skin. Contaminated skin cells of an MRSA colonised patient can easily be shed into the environment and land on surfaces to be redistributed and spread infection. To compound the problem MRSA can survive for up to seven months on environmental surfaces. 

Part of the solution for minimising cross contamination in the hospital environment is the rigorous cleaning and disinfection of medical devices as well as floors, furniture and equipment. Following an outbreak of Clostridium difficile in 2008 Antrim Area Hospital, part of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT) set about implementing a more rigorous programme of environmental cleaning and disinfection which included the use of a low-strength chlorine dioxide based solution (125 ppm) on some wards to help bring the outbreak under control.