Hydrogen peroxide vapor room disinfection and hand hygiene improvements reduce Clostridium difficile infection, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and extended-spectrum β-lactamase

Abstract

We report a statistically significant reduction in Clostridium difficile infection (from 1.38 to 0.90 cases per 1,000 patient days), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (from 0.21 to 0.01 cases per 1,000 patient days), and extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing gram-negative bacteria (from 0.16 to 0.01 cases per 1,000 patient days) associated with the introduction of hydrogen peroxide vapor for terminal decontamination of patient rooms and improvements in hand hygiene compliance.

Keywords: Clostridium difficile; Decontamination; Extended-spectrum β-lactamase; Hand hygiene; Hydrogen peroxide vapor; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Vancomycin-resistant enterococci.