Each year in the United States there are approximately 27,000,000 surgical procedures and an even larger number of invasive medical procedures. For example, there are at least 10 million gastrointestinal endoscopies per year. Each of these procedures involves contact by a medical device or surgical instrument with a patient's sterile tissue or mucous membranes. A major risk of all such procedures is the introduction of infection. Failure to properly disinfect or sterilize equipment carries not only the risk associated with breach of the host barriers but the additional risk of person-to-person transmission (e.g., hepatitis B virus) and transmission of environmental pathogens (e.g., Pseudomonas aeruginosa).
Achieving disinfection and sterilization through the use of disinfectants and sterilization practices is essential for ensuring that medical and surgical instruments do not transmit infectious pathogens to patients. Since it is unnecessary to sterilize all patient-care items, healthcare policies must identify whether cleaning, disinfection, or sterilization is indicated based primarily on the items' intended use.
Multiple studies in many countries have documented lack of compliance with established guidelines for disinfection and sterilization. Failure to comply with scientifically based guidelines has led to numerous outbreaks. This article presents a pragmatic approach to the judicious selection and proper use of disinfection processes, based on well-designed studies assessing the efficacy (via laboratory investigations) and effectiveness (via clinical studies) of disinfection procedures.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Sterilization is the complete elimination or destruction of all forms of microbial life and is accomplished in healthcare facilities by either physical or chemical processes. Steam under pressure, dry heat, ethylene oxide (ETO) gas, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, and liquid chemicals are the principal sterilizing agents used in healthcare facilities. Sterilization is intended to convey an absolute meaning, not a relative one. Unfortunately, some health professionals as well as the technical and commercial literature refer to disinfectionâl as sterilizationâl and items as partially sterile. When chemicals are used for the purposes of destroying all forms of microbiologic life, including fungal and bacterial spores, they may be called chemical sterilants. These same germicides used for shorter exposure periods may also be part of the disinfection process (i.e., high-level disinfection).
Disinfection describes a process that eliminates many or all pathogenic microorganisms on inanimate objects with the exception of bacterial spores. Disinfection is usually accomplished by the use of liquid chemicals or wet pasteurization in healthcare settings. The efficacy of disinfection is affected by a number of factors, each of which may nullify or limit the efficacy of the process. Some of the factors that affect both disinfection and sterilization efficacy are the prior cleaning of the object; the organic and inorganic load present; the type and level of microbial contamination; the concentration of and exposure time to the germicide; the nature of the object (e.g., crevices, hinges, and lumina); the presence of biofilms; the temperature and pH of the disinfection process; and, in some cases, the relative humidity of the sterilization process (e.g., ETO).
By definition, then, disinfection differs from sterilization by its lack of sporicidal property, but this is an oversimplification. A few disinfectants kill spores with prolonged exposure times (3 to 12 hours) and are called chemical sterilants. At similar concentrations but with shorter exposure periods (e.g., 20 minutes for 2% glutaraldehyde), these same disinfectants kill all microorganisms with the exception of large numbers of bacterial spores and are called high-level disinfectants. Low-level disinfectants may kill most vegetative bacteria, some fungi, and some viruses in a practical period of time (10 minutes), whereas intermediate-level disinfectants may be cidal for mycobacteria, vegetative bacteria, most viruses, and most fungi, but do not necessarily kill bacterial spores. The germicides differ markedly among themselves primarily in their antimicrobial spectrum and rapidity of action.
Cleaning, on the other hand, is the removal of visible soil (e.g., organic and inorganic material) from objects and surfaces, and it normally is accomplished by manual or mechanical means using water with detergents or enzymatic products. Thorough cleaning is essential before high-level disinfection and sterilization since inorganic and organic materials that remain on the surfaces of instruments interfere with the effectiveness of these processes. Decontamination is a procedure that removes pathogenic microorganisms from objects so they are safe to handle, use, or discard.
The suffix -cide or -cidal indicates a killing action. For example, a germicide is an agent that can kill microorganisms, particularly pathogenic microorganisms (germs). The term germicide includes both antiseptics and disinfectants. Antiseptics are germicides applied to living tissue and skin, whereas disinfectants are antimicrobials applied only to inanimate objects. In general, antiseptics are used only on the skin and not for surface disinfection, and disinfectants are not used for skin antisepsis, because they may cause injury to skin and other tissues. Other words with the suffix -cide (e.g., virucide, fungicide, bactericide, sporicide, and tuberculocide) can kill the type of microorganism identified by the prefix. For example, a bactericide is an agent that kills bacteria.
Reference : Rutala WA and Weber DJ. Selection and Use of Disinfectants in Healthcare. In Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, 3rd Edition. Editors: Mayhall, C. Glen. Copyright ©2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Achieving disinfection and sterilization through the use of disinfectants and sterilization practices is essential for ensuring that medical and surgical instruments do not transmit infectious pathogens to patients. Since it is unnecessary to sterilize all patient-care items, healthcare policies must identify whether cleaning, disinfection, or sterilization is indicated based primarily on the items' intended use.
Multiple studies in many countries have documented lack of compliance with established guidelines for disinfection and sterilization. Failure to comply with scientifically based guidelines has led to numerous outbreaks. This article presents a pragmatic approach to the judicious selection and proper use of disinfection processes, based on well-designed studies assessing the efficacy (via laboratory investigations) and effectiveness (via clinical studies) of disinfection procedures.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Sterilization is the complete elimination or destruction of all forms of microbial life and is accomplished in healthcare facilities by either physical or chemical processes. Steam under pressure, dry heat, ethylene oxide (ETO) gas, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, and liquid chemicals are the principal sterilizing agents used in healthcare facilities. Sterilization is intended to convey an absolute meaning, not a relative one. Unfortunately, some health professionals as well as the technical and commercial literature refer to disinfectionâl as sterilizationâl and items as partially sterile. When chemicals are used for the purposes of destroying all forms of microbiologic life, including fungal and bacterial spores, they may be called chemical sterilants. These same germicides used for shorter exposure periods may also be part of the disinfection process (i.e., high-level disinfection).
Disinfection describes a process that eliminates many or all pathogenic microorganisms on inanimate objects with the exception of bacterial spores. Disinfection is usually accomplished by the use of liquid chemicals or wet pasteurization in healthcare settings. The efficacy of disinfection is affected by a number of factors, each of which may nullify or limit the efficacy of the process. Some of the factors that affect both disinfection and sterilization efficacy are the prior cleaning of the object; the organic and inorganic load present; the type and level of microbial contamination; the concentration of and exposure time to the germicide; the nature of the object (e.g., crevices, hinges, and lumina); the presence of biofilms; the temperature and pH of the disinfection process; and, in some cases, the relative humidity of the sterilization process (e.g., ETO).
By definition, then, disinfection differs from sterilization by its lack of sporicidal property, but this is an oversimplification. A few disinfectants kill spores with prolonged exposure times (3 to 12 hours) and are called chemical sterilants. At similar concentrations but with shorter exposure periods (e.g., 20 minutes for 2% glutaraldehyde), these same disinfectants kill all microorganisms with the exception of large numbers of bacterial spores and are called high-level disinfectants. Low-level disinfectants may kill most vegetative bacteria, some fungi, and some viruses in a practical period of time (10 minutes), whereas intermediate-level disinfectants may be cidal for mycobacteria, vegetative bacteria, most viruses, and most fungi, but do not necessarily kill bacterial spores. The germicides differ markedly among themselves primarily in their antimicrobial spectrum and rapidity of action.
Cleaning, on the other hand, is the removal of visible soil (e.g., organic and inorganic material) from objects and surfaces, and it normally is accomplished by manual or mechanical means using water with detergents or enzymatic products. Thorough cleaning is essential before high-level disinfection and sterilization since inorganic and organic materials that remain on the surfaces of instruments interfere with the effectiveness of these processes. Decontamination is a procedure that removes pathogenic microorganisms from objects so they are safe to handle, use, or discard.
The suffix -cide or -cidal indicates a killing action. For example, a germicide is an agent that can kill microorganisms, particularly pathogenic microorganisms (germs). The term germicide includes both antiseptics and disinfectants. Antiseptics are germicides applied to living tissue and skin, whereas disinfectants are antimicrobials applied only to inanimate objects. In general, antiseptics are used only on the skin and not for surface disinfection, and disinfectants are not used for skin antisepsis, because they may cause injury to skin and other tissues. Other words with the suffix -cide (e.g., virucide, fungicide, bactericide, sporicide, and tuberculocide) can kill the type of microorganism identified by the prefix. For example, a bactericide is an agent that kills bacteria.
Reference : Rutala WA and Weber DJ. Selection and Use of Disinfectants in Healthcare. In Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, 3rd Edition. Editors: Mayhall, C. Glen. Copyright ©2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
