Following their recent article in Pathology in Practice which proves the relationship between air contamination and surface contamination, Andrew Kemp and Denise Hanson ask how can this knowledge be used to improve cleaning, and reduce potential cross contamination and microbial resistance to disinfectants?
There is a saying throughout industry: ‘If you can measure it, you can improve it.’ In the case of the disinfectant and hand sanitiser industry, it could be: ‘If you don’t measure it, there is no need to spend any time, effort, or money improving it.’
Background
For as long as I have been studying surface contamination, no one has yet routinely tested the effectiveness of their cleaning regimes or disinfectants to an extent that would be acceptable as evidence in any other industry. In many hospitals around the world, cleaning is still routinely tested by the majority of healthcare institutions using the mark one eyeball.1 How can this be in 2026? Why is this the case, and why is it considered acceptable, when we know it is of little value?
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