A simple cleaning protocol can sharply curtail the spread of deadly antibiotic-resistant infections in the hospital, according to a study out this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

That adds to some other simple measures previously proven to prevent hospital infections, including a checklist that emphasizes, among other things, that folks in the hospital regularly wash their hands.

In the current study, researchers trained hospital staff in “enhanced” cleaning methods that involved immersing cleaning cloths in disinfectant rather than simply pouring the disinfectant over the cloths, and then shining a black-light over the area to see how effective the cleaning was. They focused on rooms where a patient had previously been infected with either methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) bacteria, both of which are widespread in hospitals and potentially deadly.

That cleaning protocol cut MRSA infections nearly in half and VRE infections by nearly a third.

The findings highlight the importance of good hospital hygiene. Use our hospital Ratings to see how well hospitals in your area prevent infections. And feel free to ask your hospital what they do to prevent infections, how they clean the hospital rooms, and whether your unit has had any recent infection outbreaks. If they have, and your surgery is elective, you might be able to push back your admission date or change venues. Finally, make sure that all hospital personnel, as well as friends and family, thoroughly wash their hands when they’re around you.

Sources:
Environmental Cleaning Intervention and Risk of Acquiring Multidrug-Resistant Organisms From Prior Room Occupants [Archives of Internal Medicine]