A pilot study of the antiseptic cloths was carried out at Baycrest, a geriatric healthcare system in Ontario. Patients underwent daily bathing with disposable cloths containing chlorhexidine gluconate, an antimicrobial that reduces organisms on a patient’s skin and leaves a residue of the antimicrobial that lasts for up to six hours.
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Prior to the study, there was a transmission rate of 4.99 cases per 1,000 patient days. After this intervention was introduced and became a standard of care, that rate was reduced to 0.88 cases per 1,000 patient days — an 82 percent reduction.
“Because patients who are colonized with MRSA have a much greater chance of developing a MRSA infection, we knew we needed to intervene to stop transmission and prevent infection,” said Heather Candon, MSc, CIC, infection prevention and control practitioner at Baycrest. “Use of the CHG cloths proved to be a very effective way to achieve and sustain this reduction.”
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