Environmental Disinfection of a Dental Clinic during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Insight

Background. The control of biological hazard risk in health care and dental clinic environments represents a critical point in relation to the Covid-19 infection outbreak and international public health emergency. The purpose of the present review was to evaluate the scientific literature on the no-touch disinfection procedures in dental clinics aiming to limit transmission via airborne particles or fomites using no-touch procedures for environmental decontamination of dental clinics. Methods. An electronic database literature search was performed to retrieve research papers about Covid-19 and no-touch disinfection topics including full-length articles, editorials, commentaries, and outbreak studies. A total of 86 papers were retrieved by the electronic research. Results. No clinical article about the decontamination of a dental clinic during the Covid-19 pandemic was detected. About the topic of hospital decontamination, we found different no-touch disinfection procedures used in hospital against highly resistant organisms, but no data were found in the search for such procedures with respect to SARS-CoV-2: (1) aerosolized hydrogen peroxide, (2) H2O2 vapor, (3) ultraviolet C light, (4) pulsed xenon, and (5) gaseous ozone. One paper was retrieved concerning SARS-CoV-2; 32 documents focused on SARS and MERS. The cleaning and disinfection protocol of health care and dental clinic environment surfaces are essential elements of infection prevention programs, especially during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Conclusion. The decontamination technique that best suits the needs of the dental clinic is peroxide and hypochlorous which can be sprayed via a device at high turbine speed with the ability of producing small aerosol particles, recommendable also for their low cost.

No-Touch Disinfection Methods to Decrease Multidrug-Resistant Organism Infections: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUNDRecent studies have shown that using no-touch disinfection technologies (ie, ultraviolet light [UVL] or hydrogen peroxide vapor [HPV] systems) can limit the transmission of nosocomial pathogens and prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). To investigate these findings further, we performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis on the impact of no-touch disinfection methods to decrease HAIs.METHODSWe searched PubMed, CINAHL, CDSR, DARE and EMBASE through April 2017 for studies evaluating no-touch disinfection technology and the nosocomial infection rates for Clostridium difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). We employed random-effect models to obtain pooled risk ratio (pRR) estimates. Heterogeneity was evaluated with I2 estimation and the Cochran Q statistic. Pooled risk ratios for C. difficile, MRSA, VRE, and MDRO were assessed separately.RESULTSIn total, 20 studies were included in the final review: 13 studies using UVL systems and 7 studies using HPV systems. When the results of the UVL studies were pooled, statistically significant reduction ins C. difficile infection (CDI) (pRR, 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49–0.84) and VRE infection rates (pRR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.28–0.65) were observed. No differences were found in rates of MRSA or gram-negative multidrug-resistant pathogens.CONCLUSIONSUltraviolet light no-touch disinfection technology may be effective in preventing CDI and VRE infection.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:20–31