Infection Control
Akin to a public health practice, but practiced within the confines of a particular health-care delivery system rather than directed at society as a whole, Infection control is the discipline concerned with preventing healthcare-associated infection.
Infection control addresses factors related to the spread of infections within the healthcare setting (whether patient-to-patient, from patients to staff and from staff to patients, or among-staff), including prevention (via hand hygiene/hand washing, cleaning/disinfection/sterilization, vaccination, surveillance), monitoring/investigation of demonstrated or suspected spread of infection within a particular health-care setting (surveillance and outbreak investigation), and management (interruption of outbreaks). It is on this basis that the common title being adopted within health care is “infection prevention and control.”
- Anti-Microbial Surfaces
Microorganisms have known to survive on non-antimicrobial in animate ‘touch’ surfaces (e.g., bedrails, over-the-bed trays, call buttons, bathroom hardware, etc.) for extended periods of time. This can be especially troublesome in hospital environments where patients with immune system deficiencies are at enhanced risk for contracting nosocomial infections.
Products made with antimicrobial copper alloy surfaces destroy a wide range of microorganisms in a short period of time. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has approved the registration of 355 different antimicrobial copper alloys and one synthetic copper-infused hard surface that kill E. coli O157:H7, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in less than 2 hours of contact. Other investigations have demonstrated the efficacy of antimicrobial copper alloys to destroy Clostridium difficile, influenza A virus, adenovirus, and fungi.
- Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection method that uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill or inactivate microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA, leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions.[1] UVGI is used in a variety of applications, such as food, air, and water purification.