Enhanced terminal room disinfection and acquisition and infection caused by multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile (the Benefits of …

2017

Summary Background Patients admitted to hospital can acquire multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile from inadequately disinfected environmental surfaces. We determined the effect of three enhanced strategies for terminal room disinfection (disinfection of a room between occupying patients) on acquisition and infection due to meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , vancomycin-resistant enterococci, C difficile , and multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter . Methods We did a pragmatic, cluster-randomised, crossover trial at nine hospitals in the southeastern USA. Rooms from which a patient with infection or colonisation with a target organism was discharged were terminally dis…