Redesign of portable suction equipment cases: an engineering approach to a disinfection problem.
BACKGROUND
Patients with tracheostomies carry a case for suctioning supplies. A returned case cultured positive for Staphylococcus aureus even after it had been cleaned with a disinfectant. The purposes of this study were to determine (1) the source of the S aureus and (2) how to provide a microbiologically safe case for the next patient.


METHODS
Reviews of patient and environmental cultures plus pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were used to determine the source of the S aureus. Repeated wiping with various detergents/disinfectants did not remove the S aureus from the case, which could not be immersed for cleaning because of a chipboard component. We designed a case made of denim with a washable synthetic fiber to provide shape. The new cases were purposefully contaminated and laundered and then cultured.


RESULTS
PFGE indicated that the S aureus was from the patient who had most recently used the case. Contamination of the denim case with the original S aureus, followed by laundering, resulted in a case that was free of the S aureus. These results were repeated for other pathogens.


CONCLUSIONS
Commercially available cases for suction equipment can become contaminated with pathogens from the user and may be difficult to disinfect. By making the case out of washable materials, less expensive cases, which could be readily disinfected, resulted.
Neely
Alice N
AN
Department of Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, USA. aneely@shrinenet.org
Regnold
Lisa A
LA
Hayes
Susan
S
Gardner
Jason
J
Cahill
Thomas J
TJ
D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D012498:Sanitary Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013396:Suction / Q000295:instrumentation*