Clean Hospitals Day, celebrated each year on October 20, is designed to raise global awareness of healthcare environmental hygiene (HEH) and increase engagement of healthcare facilities (HCFs) around the world. The theme of this year’s Clean Hospitals Day campaign is “The 6 Technical Domains of Healthcare Environmental Hygiene.”
Peters, et al. (2024) observe that, "Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are among the most common adverse events in healthcare settings, causing harm to patients, visitors, and staff, and imposing a heavy burden on health systems, including increased costs. HEH is a crucial pillar of infection prevention and control, yet general level of HEH in HCFs is shockingly low across all resource levels. Pathogens such as MRSA, VRE, norovirus, Clostridioides difficile, Candida auris, and Acinetobacter spp. are often transmitted through the healthcare environment.Transmission through the healthcare environment occurs both through fomite transmission and as a result of hand contamination. Although the total burden of HAIs due to the healthcare environment is still unknown, there are current estimates that at least 10 percent to 30 percent of all multidrug-resistant organisms are transmitted to patients through the healthcare environment."
The researchers explain that HEH comprises several technical domains as well as several human factors, and both are essential for a well-functioning HEH program. These HEH technical domains include surfaces, air control, water control, device reprocessing and sterilization, laundry, and waste management. Improvements in HEH have been shown to improve patient outcomes and reduce HAIs with successful interventions often being multimodal and involving at least one of the six HEH technical domains.
The researchers note, "As there is currently no international consensus on HEH best practices, it is necessary for HCFs to turn to available national guidelines, facility- level guidelines, or product manufacturer’s recommendations for guidance. Awareness raising and interventions in HEH are also a smart use of HCF budgets, as IPC interventions generally generate a high return on investment, with programs yielding a 7- to 16-fold return on every $1 invested."
Reference: Peters A, Parneix P and Pittet D. Clean Hospitals Day 2024: the technical domains of healthcare environmental hygiene. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control. Vol. 13, article number 124. (2024)