Cleaning assessment of disinfectant cleaning wipes on an external surface of a medical device contaminated with artificial blood or Streptococcus pneumoniae

Gold K., and Hitchins V. | Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health

Improperly cleaned, disinfected, or sterilized reusable medical devices are a critical cause of health care-associated infections. Device-associated HAIs (DA-HAIs) are among the main causes of patient morbidity and mortality within hospital intensive care units. It has also been suggested that DA-HAIs account for 60-80% of all bloodstream, urinary tract, and pneumonia-related HAIs, signifying a need for new infection control measures to reduce the involvement of medical devices in such infections. One of the critical issues that need to be considered when designing new infection control measures is the influence of physical design and materials used in fabrication on the reprocessing of reusable medical devices. More effective studies are required to address the improvement of cleaning and disinfection instructions, as well as selection of cleaning and disinfecting agents, for surfaces of reusable devices and equipment.

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