Disinfection and Sterilization in Health Care Facilities: An Overview and Current Issues.

ABSTRACT

All invasive procedures involve contact by a medical device or surgical instrument with a patient's sterile tissue or mucous membranes. The level of disinfection is dependent on the intended use of the object critical, semicritical, or noncritical. New issues and practices can affect the risk of infection associated with devices and surfaces. Endoscopes continue to represent a nosocomial hazard. The contaminated surface environment in hospital rooms is important in the transmission of health care-associated pathogens. Thoroughness of cleaning must be monitored and no-touch room decontamination technology should be. In general, emerging pathogens are susceptible to currently available disinfectants.