title: A randomized, double-blind comparison of the effectiveness of environmental cleaning between infection control professionals and environmental service workers.
abstract: The hospital environment is a reservoir for pathogens, and environmental service workers (ESWs) play an important role in infection prevention. A randomized, double-blind comparison was carried out in a 23-bed intensive care unit of a traditional Chinese medical-Western medical hospital. Aerobic colony counts (ACC) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were used to compare the effectiveness of environmental cleaning between infection control professionals and ESWs. The results suggest that high-touch surfaces around MRSA patients are often not sufficiently cleaned and are even cross-contaminated by ESWs after cleaning. Further educational intervention is needed for improvement of environmental cleaning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Control, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Control, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liangen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Linhai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lingya
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Control, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qingxin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yinghong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Disinfection Surveillance and Vector Control, Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China. Electronic address: hznixp@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002681:China; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Environmental cleaning; Health care–associated infections; High-touch surfaces; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus