The effect of probiotics for environmental cleaning on hospital-acquired infection in a burn centre: The results of a non-randomised controlled prospective study

Background. A retrospective analysis was done to correlate recorded clinical infections with laboratory cultures to report on the incidence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and the impact of probiotics for environmental cleaning in our burn centre. Objectives. To assess the effect of probiotics for environmental cleaning in a tertiary burn unit on HAIs. Methods. We used the electronic content management system of the hospital to access patient files for 2017 and February 2018. All patients with clinical records showing a new infection after admission for ≥48 hours and who required antibiotics were recorded as HAIs. Results. The total number of HAIs for 2017 was 167. If the two test months (TM) when probiotics were used are excluded for 2017, then the HAIs numbered 151 for the remaining control months (CM). Thus during 2017 there were 16 HAIs in the TMs. The percentage difference of the monthly average of HAIs for the TM and the CM is a 55.89% reduction, with a statistically significant p-value <0.005. Conclusion. Our reduction in HAIs is consistent with the findings of other high-level-of-evidence studies in the literature. We can recommend the use of probiotics for environmental cleaning in a burn centre.