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Abstract

Background: Expressed Human Milk (EHM) feed preparation areas represent a potential source of unintentional nosocomial infection. Daily disinfection of environmental surfaces remains an essential intervention to mitigate nosocomial infections but the inefficiency of conventional cleaning and disinfection practices remains concerning. â�?�?Non-touchâ�? technologies such as the Pulsed Xenon Ultraviolet (PX-UVD) light device has documented sustained reduction in surface bacterial colonization and reduced cross contamination. Aim: A quality improvement study evaluating efficiency of conventional cleaning and its impact on the surface bio-burden of feed preparation areas and subsequently following the introduction of a PX-UVD as standard of care. Methods: A prospective interventional study documenting surface colony forming units per square centimeter (cfu/cm2) from 6 high risk feed preparation areas in a community care hospital in South Africa. Pre and post conventional cleaning neutralizing rinse swabs were collected over a 16 week control period prior to the introduction of the PX-UVD and compared to a matching set of samples for the PX-UVD period. Results: Total Surface Bio-Burden (TSB) of 544 cfu/cm2 during the control period showed a 90% reduction compared to the 50 cfu/cm2 for the corresponding PX-UVD period. A consistent improvement in the pre:post cleaning ratios during the PX-UVD period approached statistical significance (p-value=0.08). The introduction of the PX-UVD had a cumulative suppressive effect on the pre clean bio-burden counts (p-value=0.018). Conclusion: The study demonstrated the inefficiency of conventional cleaning. Persistence of pathological species in both periods highlights current health sector challenges. We discuss the multi-prong interventional strategy adopted to critically review current policy and re-evaluate potential weaknesses as well as the adoption of new technologies such as the PX-UVD which temporally resulting in a significant decrease in surface bio-burden. r.dippenaar@mweb.co.za

Biography