Automatic environmental disinfection with hydrogen peroxide and silver ions versus manual environmental disinfection with sodium hypochlorite: a multicentre randomized before-and-after trial

Summary Background New technologies for automated disinfection have been developed, including the use of hydrogen peroxide atomized by specific equipment, with associated silver compounds. Aims To compare the effectiveness of an automated disinfection system with hydrogen peroxide Clostridium difficile presence; and to evaluate the time required for both of these processes. Methods This was a randomized multicentre trial performed in different hospital wards that had been occupied previously by patients with Clostridium difficile infection. When patients were discharged their rooms were randomized to one of two decontamination arms. The surfaces where sampled using swabs, before and after disinfection. Swab samples were cultured for quantitative detection of microbial mesophilic contamination and qualitative detection of C. difficile . Findings Before disinfection, 13% of surfaces decontaminated with hydrogen peroxide and silver ions and 20% of surfaces decontaminated with sodium hypochlorite showed presence of C. difficile spores. After disinfection, the samples containing C. difficile were 0% ( P P Conclusion The differences between the groups were not statistically significant; however, the disinfection with hydrogen peroxide and silver ions is preferable due to less dependence on operators.