Methods

Reducing the risk of infections transmission between the among children with oncologic diseases via the environment

Galina Solopova, Head of Infection Prevention Department, Dmitry Rogachev Federal Scientific-Clinical Center of Children's Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Russia, Moscow

Introduction

The immune systems of the children with oncologic diseases are usually weakened by cancer chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation. These patients are highly susceptible to the bacterial, fungal, and viral infections as well as to the common children infections that healthy immune systems usually conquer.

The Center is focused on the highest standards in infection prevention & control. During the control process in oncology wards, the hospital staff found that infections are migrating from one ward to another. After discovering infection in a particular ward, the staff made deep cleaning and the test made after that was showing the negative result, but shortly the same infection was found in another ward, which before was negative. The situation repeated several times. Each time after successful removal of the infection from one ward & getting negative results of the test, they were found in other wards.

The hospital management gave the tasks:

1. To find out the way of transmission

2. To work out the procedures & protocol to stop the transmission

Methods

To find the way of transmission of the infection the laboratory employees decided to make some samples from the cleaning devices and materials that are usually used during the pre-cleaning process. The test showed that infection survived on the swabs, mops and dust clothes. In fact this single-use materials were applied in some wards after first pre-cleaning process. This discovered fact showed that human factor is present in cleaning process as well, and this factor should to be excluded somehow or other.

In order to prevent further spread of the infection the Head of Infection Prevention has made a decision to use automatic area decontamination system before preliminary manual cleaning of the areas (on the dirty surfaces).

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1039