The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The role of the surface environment in healthcare-associated infections
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews the evidence demonstrating the importance of contamination of hospital surfaces in the transmission of healthcare-associated pathogens and interventions scientifically demonstrated to reduce the levels of microbial contamination and decrease healthcare-associated infections. RECENT FINDINGS: The contaminated surface environment in hospitals plays an important role in the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE), Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter spp., and norovirus. Improved surface cleaning and disinfection can reduce transmission of these pathogens. 'No-touch' methods of room disinfection (i.e., devices which produce ultraviolet light or hydrogen peroxide) and 'self-disinfecting' surfaces (e.g., copper) also show promise to decrease contamination and reduce healthcare-associated infections. SUMMARY: Hospital surfaces are frequently contaminated with important healthcare-associated pathogens. Contact with the contaminated environment by healthcare personnel is equally as likely as direct contact with a patient to lead to contamination of the healthcare provider's hands or gloves that may result in patient-to-patient transmission of nosocomial pathogens. Admission to a room previously occupied by a patient with MRSA, VRE, Acinetobacter, or C. difficile increases the risk for the subsequent patient admitted to the room to acquire the pathogen. Improved cleaning and disinfection of room surfaces decreases the risk of healthcare-associated infections.
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Cites
Estimating Health Care-Associated Infections and Deaths in U.S. Hospitals, 2002
Klevens, R. M., Edwards, J. R., Richards, C. L., Horan, T. C., Gaynes, R. P., Pollock, D. A., & Cardo, D. M. (2007) · Public Health Reports® · doi:10.1177/003335490712200205 · Cited by 2,960
How long do nosocomial pathogens persist on inanimate surfaces? A systematic review
Kramer, A., Schwebke, I., & Kampf, G. (2006) · BMC Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1186/1471-2334-6-130 · Cited by 2,504
Weber, D. J., Rutala, W. A., Miller, M. B., Huslage, K., & Sickbert-Bennett, E. (2010) · American Journal of Infection Control · doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2010.04.196 · Cited by 768
Self-citationEnvironmental contamination makes an important contribution to hospital infection
Boyce, J. M. (2007) · Journal of Hospital Infection · doi:10.1016/s0195-6701(07)60015-2 · Cited by 724
The Role Played by Contaminated Surfaces in the Transmission of Nosocomial Pathogens
Otter, J. A., Yezli, S., & French, G. L. (2011) · Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/660363 · Cited by 670
Otter, J. A., Yezli, S., Salkeld, J. A. G., & French, G. L. (2013) · American Journal of Infection Control · doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2012.12.004 · Cited by 594
Risk of Acquiring Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria From Prior Room Occupants
Huang, S. S. (2006) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.166.18.1945 · Cited by 517
Copper Surfaces Reduce the Rate of Healthcare-Acquired Infections in the Intensive Care Unit
Salgado, C. D., Sepkowitz, K. A., John, J. F., Cantey, J. R., Attaway, H. H., Freeman, K. D., Sharpe, P. A., Michels, H. T., & Schmidt, M. G. (2013) · Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/670207 · Cited by 366
Role of copper in reducing hospital environment contamination
Casey, A. L., Adams, D., Karpanen, T. J., Lambert, P. A., Cookson, B. D., Nightingale, P., Miruszenko, L., Shillam, R., Christian, P., & Elliott, T. S. J. (2010) · Journal of Hospital Infection · doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2009.08.018 · Cited by 355
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Cited by
Antibiotic resistance in the environment
Larsson, D. G. J., & Flach, C.-F. (2022) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/s41579-021-00649-x · Cited by 3,164
Cleaning Hospital Room Surfaces to Prevent Health Care–Associated Infections: A Technical Brief
Han, J. H., Sullivan, N., Leas, B. F., Pegues, D. A., Kaczmarek, J. L., & Umscheid, C. A. (2015) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/m15-1192 · Cited by 205
Candida auris: Disinfectants and Implications for Infection Control
Ku, T. S. N., Walraven, C. J., & Lee, S. A. (2018) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.00726 · Cited by 177
Efficacy of disinfectant-impregnated wipes used for surface disinfection in hospitals: a review
Song, X., Vossebein, L., & Zille, A. (2019) · Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control · doi:10.1186/s13756-019-0595-2 · Cited by 132
“shed by patients can 42 contaminate hospital surfaces at concentrations sufficient for transmission, surviving for extended 43 periods and persisting despite attempts to remove them [5-11].”
Caselli, E., Brusaferro, S., Coccagna, M., Arnoldo, L., Berloco, F., Antonioli, P., Tarricone, R., Pelissero, G., Nola, S., La Fauci, V., et al. (2018) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0199616 · Cited by 101
Metadata
- Authors
- Weber, D. J., Anderson, D., & Rutala, W. A.
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases
- Published
- 2013-08
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 338-344
- ISSN
- 0951-7375 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2062240620
- Cited by
- 567
- References
- 42
- FWCI
- 20.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
