A hospital cleaning study using microfibre and a novel copper biocide. I. Microbiological studies

Abstract

We compared the performance of Vermop ultramicrofibre cloths/mops (UMF) with water (UMF + water) or impregnated with a novel copper-based biocide (UMF + CuWB50; 300 mg/L) with standard cleaning using cotton mops/cloths with Hospec detergent. Six sites were sampled with contact plates to enumerate total viable (bacterial) counts (TVCs) and with the 3M Clean-Trace ATP assay to assess cleaning efficacy. Statistical analysis revealed that one hour post-cleaning TVC levels were lower when using UMF + CuWB50 (75% reduction) compared with standard cleaning or UMF + water (45% and 35% reductions, respectively). There was a small overall residual effect when cleaning with UMF + CuWB50 (11.7% reduction in TVCs, p = 0.209). ATP levels were reduced more with UMF + CuWB50 than with standard cleaning or UMF + water. UMF( ± CuWB50) cleaning was more effective than standard cleaning (~78% vs. 61% reduction of ATP levels, respectively). This hospital implementation study demonstrates overall superior cleaning performance of UMF, which is enhanced with CuWB50, compared with standard cleaning.