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Background: Recent research suggests that alcohol-based skin antiseptics exhibit their efficacy on the resident skin flora of the forehead in less than 10 minutes. That is why we have looked at the efficacy of two ethanol-based skin antiseptics applied for 10, 2.5 and 2 minutes on skin with a high density of sebaceous glands. Each experiment was performed in a reference-controlled cross-over design with at least 20 participants. Application of isopropanol (70%, v/v) for 10 minutes to the forehead served as the reference treatment. The clear (skin antiseptic A) and coloured preparations (skin antiseptic B) contain 85% ethanol (w/w). Pre-values and post-values (immediately after the application and after 30 min) were obtained by swabbing a marked area of 5 cm² for about 10 s. Swabs were vortexed in tryptic soy broth containing valid neutralizing agents. After serial dilution aliquots were spread on tryptic soy agar. Colonies were counted after incubation of plates at 36°C for 48 h. The mean log10 reduction of bacteria was calculated. The Wilcoxon matchedpairs signed-ranks test was used for a comparison of treatments. Results: Skin antiseptic A applied for 10 min was significantly more effective than the reference treatment. When applied for 2.5 min (three experiments) it was significantly more effective than the reference treatment immediately after application (2.7 versus 2.2 log10 reduction; p < 0.001) and equally effective after 30 min (2.8 versus 2.6 log10 reduction; p = 0.053). Skin antiseptic B applied for 2.5 min (three experiments) was significantly more effective than the reference treatment both immediately after application (2.3 versus 1.9 log10 reduction; p < 0.001) and after 30 min (2.5 versus 2.1 log10 reduction; p = 0.002). Conclusion: The clear and coloured skin antiseptics applied for 2.5 min on the skin of the forehead fulfilled the efficacy requirements for skin antisepsis. The shorter application time on skin with a high density of sebaceous glands will allow to act more efficiently in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent research suggests that specific ethanol-based skin antiseptics exhibit their efficacy on the resident skin flora of the forehead in only 2.5 minutes. We have now looked at the efficacy of two skin antiseptics based on 63% (w/w) propan-2-ol (iso-propanol) and applied for 10 and 2 minutes on skin with a high density of sebaceous glands. Methods: Each experiment was performed in a reference-controlled cross-over design with at least 20 participants. Application of isopropanol (70%, v/v) for 10 minutes to the forehead served as the reference treatment. Pre-values and post-values (immediately after the application and after 30 min) were obtained by swabbing a marked area of 5 cm2 for about 10 s. Swabs were vortexed in tryptic soy broth containing valid neutralizing agents. After serial dilution aliquots were spread on tryptic soy agar. Colonies were counted after incubation of plates at 36°C for 48 h. The mean log10 reduction of bacteria was calculated. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test was used for a comparison of treatments. Results: Skin antiseptic A applied for 10 min (one experiment) was equally effective to the reference treatment. When applied for 2 min (two experiments) it was still equally effective to the reference treatment immediately after application (e.g. 1.6 versus 1.4 log10 reduction) and after 30 min (1.7 versus 1.4 log10 reduction). Skin antiseptic B applied for 10 and 2 min (one experiment each) was also equally effective to the reference treatment both immediately after application and after 30 min. Conclusions: The clear and coloured skin antiseptics applied for 2 min on the skin of the forehead fulfilled the national efficacy requirements for skin antisepsis. The shorter application time on skin with a high density of sebaceous glands will allow acting more efficiently in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are of major concern in infection control. Although broad infection control actions to check VRE have been implemented, VRE remain part of daily infection preven- tion in clinical settings. Cleaning procedures in the inanimate ward environment might play a key role in controlling VRE. In order to optimize infection control management at University Hospital Frankfurt, Germany (UHF), this study evaluates the impact of H2O2-containing cleaning wipes compared to Glucoprotamin containing wipes on VRE prevalence in intensive care wards. Methods: Retrospective analyses were conducted of the VRE prevalence on environmental materials obtained from three intensive care units (ICU) at UHF for 17 months prior to (T1) and during the 25 months after (T2) the implementation of H2O2-containing cleaning wipes from January 2016 to June 2019. The bactericidal power of the two disinfectants against VRE was compared using the 4-field test according to EN 16615 (2015). Results: At T1 and T2, n=666 and n=710 environmental samples, re- spectively, were obtained. At T1, 24.2% (n=161/666; 95% confidence interval: 21.0–27.6) and at T2, 6.9% (n=49/710; 5.1–9.0) samples were positive for VRE. In vitro disinfectant testing did not reveal any superiority of H2O2 over glucoprotamin. No effect on the VRE prevalence in patients' rectal screening materials was observed. Conclusion: Though Glucoprotamin and H2O2 were in vitro equally effective against VRE, the prevalence of VRE in ICU environment at UHF de- creased after implementation of H2O2-containig wipes. This might be due to multiple factors, of which we consider the impact of the Hawthorne effect to be the strongest. Success of infection control strategies might depend on the compliance of the persons critically in- volved. Transparent information on infection control strategies is sug- gested to increase compliance and should therefore be considered both in daily infection control and outbreak management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the publication of the first “Hospital Hygiene Guideline for the implementation and operation of air conditioning systems (HVAC systems) in hospitals”(http://www.krankenhaushygiene.de/informationen/ fachinformationen/leitlinien/12) in 2002, it was necessary due to the increase in knowledge, new regulations, improved air-conditioning systems and advanced test methods to revise the guideline. Based on the description of the basic features of ventilation concepts, its hygienic test and the usage-based requirements for ventilation, the DGKH section “Ventilation and air conditioning technology” attempts to provide answers for the major air quality issues in the planning, design and the hygienically safe operation of HVAC systems in rooms of health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]