15 Dec 2016

The American Journal of Infection Control issue 44 (2016) pages e107 through e111, with following title: “Major Article Reproducible elimination of Clostridium difficile spores using a clinical area washer disinfector in 3 different health care sites.” discusses the opportunities for eradication of C-diff risks on the surfaces of traditional hospital (and nursing home) bedpans (and slipper-pan/fracture-pans/commode-pans/wash-basins/wash-bowls by extension).

The study lays out very clearly that only under the MOST PERFECT of circumstances, will the bedpan washer-disinfector (WD) be able to cope. The study shows a significant number of risk factors, limitations and complications which all, every single one, will drive down the disinfection performance significantly.

The study shows how complex it has become, with temperatures, with detergents, with loading of machines, with capacity (washing one or two pieces), with staff errors, with lack of response-time (bedpans ‘drying up’), with physical errors on the machines.

As a result of such studies, taking the ever-increasing costs of using washer-disinfectors into account, it is Curas recommendation to all healthcare facilities to commence the use of disposable alternative systems.