The Effect of DHPยฎ Technology on Environmental Contamination with ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข ๐ข๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด in an Adult Burn Unit
Published November 2023 in the Open Forum Infectious Diseases
Description: DHPยฎ technology was installed in the burn intensive care and step-down units of a 383-bed tertiary care, Level II Trauma and Burn Center in Florida. After installation but prior to activation of DHPยฎ baseline microbial surface sampling of the patient room and other unit areas was performed for each patient newly identified with C. auris on the first day of their testing positive (Day 0). DHPยฎ was subsequently activated, and surface samples were again collected on Days 1, 7, and 14 after routine environmental cleaning. Surfaces sampled included those closest to the patient (i.e. call button, bedside rails, bedside table), those further away from the patient bed (i.e. curtains, window sills, counter, keyboard, glove box), and those from mobile shared equipment (i.e. vitals machine, glucometer). The association between the duration of DHPยฎ exposure and C. auris contamination was evaluated.
Key Takeaways:
- The use of DHPยฎ was associated with a 92.9% reduction in C. auris contamination in the rooms of patients colonized with the fungus over 1 week while the patients were occupying the room.
- DHPยฎ maintained statistically significant reductions in C. auris contamination throughout the entire 14-day study.
