title: Consensus statement: patient safety, healthcare-associated infections and hospital environmental surfaces.
abstract: Healthcare-associated infections have serious implications for both patients and hospitals. Environmental surface contamination is the key to transmission of nosocomial pathogens. Routine manual cleaning and disinfection eliminates visible soil and reduces environmental bioburden and risk of transmission, but may not address some surface contamination. Automated area decontamination technologies achieve more consistent and pervasive disinfection than manual methods, but it is challenging to demonstrate their efficacy within a randomized trial of the multiple interventions required to reduce healthcare-associated infection rates. Until data from multicenter observational studies are available, automated area decontamination technologies should be an adjunct to manual cleaning and disinfection within a total, multi-layered system and risk-based approach designed to control environmental pathogens and promote patient safety.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory on Bacterial Adhesion & Biofilm Formation, University Paul Sabatier, UMR 5503 - Hospital practitioner at the Federative Institute of Biology, Purpan Hospital - Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roques
authors.affiliation: Infection Control Association, Infection Control Directorate, Sabah Health Area, PO Box 12414, Al-Shamiya, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Haifaa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al Mousa
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service & Wits School of Pathology, Houghton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duse
authors.affiliation: Infection Prevention & Control, Royal College of Nursing, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Hygiene Nord GmbH, Griefswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koburger
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Prevention, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Egil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lingaas
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Division, National Institute for Infectious Diseases, 'Lazzaro Spallanzani', Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petrosillo
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Microbiology & Hospital Infections, University Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Jasenka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Škrlin
mesh_terms: D032921:Consensus; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D061214:Patient Safety
keywords: automated area decontamination technologies; healthcare-associated infections; hospital environment; manual cleaning and disinfection; nosocomial pathogens; surface contamination; systems approach