Clorox is committed to helping combat the spread of HAIs by offering hospital cleaning supplies, disinfecting solutions and healthcare tactics to meet your infection prevention needs – excellent product efficacy, expert knowledge, and training.
As a healthcare professional, you work to improve infection prevention practices in your facility. That is why you already use bleach for serious situations like C. difficile, due to its fast contact times across a broad range of potentially dangerous pathogens. However, you should not limit your usage to only those situations. In fact, five of U.S. News and World Report's Top 10 Most Influential Hospitals use Clorox® bleach in their facilities. You can take a significant step toward helping prevent the spread of HAI-causing pathogens by expanding bleach to the following high risk areas.
Intensive Care Units (ICU) ICU patients may be infected with contagious pathogens, are often immunocompromised and at very high risk for spreading or developing HAIs. Disinfect with bleach to kill pathogens commonly found in ICUs, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to minimize cross-contamination. In addition, ensure that these rooms receive a thorough terminal cleaning with 12" x 12" Clorox Healthcare™ Bleach Germicidal Wipes upon patient discharge.
Emergency Room (ER) With many patients coming through the door, ER surfaces require proactive disinfecting to prevent the spread of pathogens to the rest of the facility. Since Clorox® germicidal bleach products are fast-acting, broad-spectrum, EPA-registered disinfectants, they are effective for killing those unseen pathogens that enter the ER. With proprietary odor-masking agents, you can be reassured that Clorox® germicidal bleach products are designed for patient comfort.
Operating Room With frequent surgery turnover and the presence of blood, tissue and other body fluids, ensuring a clean and disinfected operating room is of utmost importance. In fact, OSHA and CDC guidelines recommend using a 1:10 bleach dilution to address blood spills and bloodborne pathogens of concern. You can trust that by using bleach, with its fast contact times, you are ensuring proper disinfection AND quick room-turnover time so that the OR is ready to go for the next patient.
Dialysis Cross-contamination can pose a significant risk to patients in dialysis centers. Bacterial infections are the second leading cause of death among dialysis patients. The most prevalent infections include Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV, which many dialysis disinfectants are not EPA-registered to kill. Proper surface disinfection - with an EPA-registered bleach disinfectant - and compliance with hand hygiene protocols are key to preventing infections in dialysis settings.
Endoscopy/GI Suite The tests conducted here can create a high risk for organism shedding, such as Clostridium difficile, and contamination of surfaces and medical equipment. Thorough disinfection of these areas is critical to breaking the cycle of indirect pathogen transmission. According to the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), "Rigorous cleaning of the endoscopy suite with a bleach-containing disinfectant (5000 ppm) for environmental disinfection is effective in killing (C. difficile spores)." Not only are Clorox® EPA-registered germicidal bleach products effective in the GI Suite, they are also specially formulated with anticorrosion agents. You can use them with confidence on a variety of hard, nonporous surfaces.
Isolation Rooms Isolating patients with potentially deadly infections is not enough because HAI-causing pathogens can be transmitted through contaminated surfaces. To minimize cross contamination, the CDC, APIC and SHEA guidelines recommend using a 1:10 bleach dilution. In fact, bleach is effective against some of the deadliest pathogens most prevalent in Isolation Rooms:
| Effective against: | Clorox Healthcare™ Bleach Germicidal Wipes | Clorox Heathcare™ Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner Disinfectant Wipes and Sprays | Dispatch® Hospital Cleaner Disinfectant with Bleach | Dispatch® Hospital Cleaner Disinfectant Towels with Bleach | Leading Quaternary Dilutable Disinfectant |
| Acinetobacter baumannii | 30 sec | 30 sec – 1 min | 1 min | 1 min | 10 min |
| MRSA | 30 sec | 1 min | 1 min | 1 min | 10 min |
| Norovirus | 1 min | 1 min – 3 min | 1 min | 1 min | 10 min |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | 30 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 1 min | 10 min |
| Rotavirus | 1 min | 1 min | 1 min | 1 min | none |
| VRE | 30 sec | 30 sec | 1 min | 1 min | 10 min |
Labor and Delivery The patients in Labor and Delivery includes our youngest patients whose immune systems are still developing. To reduce the risk of pathogen exposure among these vulnerable patients, adhere to OSHA and CDC guidelines, which recommend using a 1:10 bleach dilution for blood and body fluid spills. Not only do Clorox® bleach products adhere to these guidelines, but they also contain surfactants and odor-masking agents to ensure a clean and a comfortable environment.
Patient Room and Bathroom With multiple patient, staff and visitor interactions occurring, these patient areas are prone to cross-contamination since so many different hands touch potentially contaminated surfaces every day. Some infectious germs can survive on these patient room surfaces for hours, days, even months. According to the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and CDC guidelines, high-touch surfaces should be more frequently cleaned and disinfected. Use EPA-registered, bleach-based disinfecting products to reduce the spread of germs that can cause HAIs.
Contact us at healthcare@clorox.com
or call 1-800-234-7700.
Products for high-risk areas
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