PMID- 22196853
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20120511
LR  - 20131121
IS  - 1532-2939 (Electronic)
IS  - 0195-6701 (Linking)
VI  - 80
IP  - 2
DP  - 2012 Feb
TI  - Comparison of cleaning efficacy between in-use disinfectant and electrolysed 
      water in an English residential care home.
PG  - 122-7
LID - 10.1016/j.jhin.2011.10.015 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infection control in hospitals and care homes remains a key issue. 
      They are regularly inspected regarding standards of hygiene, but visual 
      assessment does not necessarily correlate with microbial cleanliness. Pathogens 
      can persist in the inanimate environment for extended periods of time. AIM: This 
      prospective study compared the effectiveness of a novel sanitizer containing 
      electrolysed water, in which the active ingredient is stabilized hypochlorous 
      acid (Aqualution), with the effectiveness of the quaternary ammonium 
      disinfectant in current use for microbial removal from hand-touch surfaces in a 
      care home. The study had a two-period crossover design. METHODS: Five surfaces 
      were cleaned daily over a four-week period, with screening swabs taken before and 
      after cleaning. Swabs were cultured in order to compare levels of surface 
      microbial contamination [colony-forming units (cfu)/cm(2)] before and after 
      cleaning with each product. FINDINGS: Cleaning with electrolysed water reduced 
      the mean surface bacterial load from 2.6 [interquartile range (IQR) 0.30-30.40] 
      cfu/cm(2) to 0.10 (IQR 0.10-1.40) cfu/cm(2) [mean log(10) reduction factor 1.042, 
      95% confidence interval (CI) 0.79-1.30]. Cleaning with the in-use quaternary 
      ammonium disinfectant increased the bacterial load from 0.90 (IQR 0.10-8.50) 
      cfu/cm(2) to 93.30 (IQR 9.85-363.65) cfu/cm(2) (mean log(10) reduction -1.499, 
      95% CI -1.87 to -1.12) (P < 0.0001). Using two proposed benchmark standards for 
      surface microbial levels in hospitals, electrolysed water resulted in a higher 
      'pass rate' than the in-use quaternary ammonium disinfectant (80-86% vs 15-21%, P 
      < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Electrolysed water exerts a more effective bacterial kill 
      than the in-use quaternary ammonium disinfectant, which suggests that it may be 
      useful as a surface sanitizer in environments such as care homes.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2011 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All 
      rights reserved.
FAU - Meakin, N S
AU  - Meakin NS
AD  - Aqualution Systems Ltd, Duns, UK. nick@aqualution.co.uk
FAU - Bowman, C
AU  - Bowman C
FAU - Lewis, M R
AU  - Lewis MR
FAU - Dancer, S J
AU  - Dancer SJ
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20111221
PL  - England
TA  - J Hosp Infect
JT  - The Journal of hospital infection
JID - 8007166
RN  - 0 (Disinfectants)
RN  - 0 (Quaternary Ammonium Compounds)
RN  - 712K4CDC10 (Hypochlorous Acid)
SB  - IM
MH  - Bacteria/isolation & purification
MH  - Colony Count, Microbial
MH  - Cross Infection/*prevention & control
MH  - Cross-Over Studies
MH  - Disinfectants/*pharmacology
MH  - Disinfection/*methods
MH  - *Environmental Microbiology
MH  - *Home Care Services
MH  - Humans
MH  - Hypochlorous Acid/pharmacology
MH  - Prospective Studies
MH  - Quaternary Ammonium Compounds/pharmacology
EDAT- 2011/12/27 06:00
MHDA- 2012/05/12 06:00
CRDT- 2011/12/27 06:00
PHST- 2010/12/03 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/10/23 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2011/12/27 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2011/12/27 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/05/12 06:00 [medline]
AID - S0195-6701(11)00427-0 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.jhin.2011.10.015 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Hosp Infect. 2012 Feb;80(2):122-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2011.10.015. Epub 2011 
      Dec 21.