Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality in healthcare facilities globally. The effectiveness of an aerosolized hydrogen peroxide (aHP) disinfection system in reducing CDI rates at a large acute-care facility was investigated in this study over a period of 10 years. For this, the CDI rates at an acute care facility were retrospectively analyzed.

In the first part of the study, which compared the CDI rates before and after implementation of an aHP system over a period of 5 years, the CDI rates declined from 4.6 per 10,000 patient days to 2.7 per 10,000 patient days after implementation of the aHP system. The second study period, conducted for another 5 years, examined the impact of continued use of the aHP system on CDI rates. A uniform reduction in CDI rates to 1.4 per 10,000 patient days was noted at the study end. Researchers therefore concluded that addition of a touchless aHP whole room disinfection system as part of terminal cleaning or in hospital infection prevention protocols can significantly reduce hospital CDI rates.

Source: Truitt CL, et al. Am J Infect Control. 2022 Jan 8;S0196-6553(21)00788-4.