Pennsylvania, US (BBN)-A new study took a deeper look into the cleanliness of hospital beds and rooms, finding alarming results.
The study found that there is an overall lack of knowledge on basic protocols on how to properly clean a patient’s hospital room, reports the Morning Ticker.com.
The shocking information found during the study legitimizes what were once just superstitions about superbug infections in hospitals, according to News Quench.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine found, and were perplexed, that there is no par or method for keeping a patient’s room sanitized.
In fact, they could find no literature at all to support that there might just be some documentation on it that has been overlooked.
Troubling as it is, nearly one in every 25 hospital patients contract an infection while they are still in the hospital.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that nearly 721,000 hospital-related infections were reported, in 2011 alone.
And of those, 75,000 resulted in death.
The literature that is in place relating to hospital rooms and patients consists of information about hand washing and the best way to prevent germs.
But there is little to no focus in any hospital literature found for how to properly disinfect other surfaces in the hospital.
And it is not just in the patient rooms.
Dangerous germs can be spread throughout the hospital by doctors or patients that touch counters, floors, trays, equipment, tools, IV pulls, lights, call buttons and restrooms.
One of the most common deadly infections spread in hospitals, C. difficile, can, and has, been significantly controlled by new cleaning methods that involve the use of ultraviolet rays and hydrogen peroxide vapor.
The study highlighted the lack of information in circulation for health care professionals to use in order to maintain overall cleanliness at all times in all areas by correctly disinfecting the necessary surfaces.
Researchers are hoping to raise awareness from the study that could lead to improved sanitation protocols across the country.
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