Keep your healthcare facility germ-free

Healthcare facilities are waging a constant battle against infection control. From hands to surfaces, everything in a healthcare facility has an infection prevention protocol. Conventional control plans have been in place for decades — change linens, wash hands, sterilise instruments and surfaces — yet outbreaks persist. Add to this, the fact that more and more pathogens and bacteria are developing antibiotic resistance, and it’s becoming obvious that healthcare facilities need to re-evaluate their infection control plans.

Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) are a major problem facing long-term care and day care facilities all over the world.  Especially in developing countries like ours, the magnitude of this problem is enormous and must be tackled today for better healthcare tomorrow!

Outbreak of swine flu and regular outbreaks of other viral infections is regular in India. Beyond the thousands of avoidable annual fatalities, there are extreme costs associated with HAIs, with some reported figures exceeding billions of dollars. The solutions available are cumbersome, too expensive or less effective. The established ways of sterilisation and cleaning are not enough. Even these viruses and bacteria have become immune to most commonly used antibiotics. 

One way to combat HAIs is to understand more about their root causes. Here are some startling facts and figures about HAIs (pertaining to USA). The Indian statistics which is not available may surprise you further.

For example:
HAI claim an average of 271 lives every day. Most of these fatalities are caused by drug resistant ‘superbugs’ such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), noroviruses and clostridium difficile (C difficile). HAIs kill more people in the United States than automobile accidents and breast cancer combined.

The United States experiences about two million HAI cases per year. While you may be surprised to learn that HAI rates are so high in a country with such highly evolved healthcare infrastructure, the truth is that HAIs are a major problem in developed countries globally. In countries like India with high population density the statistics could be alarmingly high. Most current infection prevention methods are out of date.

HAI are a major drain on hospital resources. HAIs cost an average of $25,000 per patient. Consider there are approximately two million HAI cases per year, their total burden is in the neighbourhood of $50 billion.

l Patient-to-patient contact is not the most common transmission route of HAIs. While many cases can be traced back to it, the majority of HAIs are transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces/equipment, or via airborne transmission. 

Many HAIs are drug-resistant. While there are numerous viral HAIs, including new strains of avian flu and swine flu, most HAIs are bacterial in nature. Worse, more than 70 per cent of the bacteria that cause HAIs are resistant to one or more of the front-line medications used to treat them.

Current infection prevention protocols are heavily focused on hand and surface cleaning, but neglect air. Even air filtrations systems which use HEPA/UV are not effective in eliminating many viruses, bacteria and odours. Numerous portable air-purifiers are available in the market, but they may not be able to kill all the pathogens in the air. As pathogens and bacteria become more antibiotic resistant, HAIs are becoming more common. 

In Western countries, one trend that more and more successful healthcare professionals are exploring is to utilise new technology backed up by solid science as a way to complete their infection control plan. Unique technology like Novaerus Plasma (Dielectric Discharge) which is validated by NASA promises to reduce the threat of bacteria and pathogens in your facility by scrubbing the air. This innovative, effective and affordable technology is now available in India. 

— The writer is a biomedical engineer 

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