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Does blood on “dirty” instruments interfere with the effectiveness of sterilization technologies?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2021

William A. Rutala ,
Maria F. Gergen  and
David J. Weber
William A. Rutala*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Maria F. Gergen
Affiliation:
Department of Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
David J. Weber
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Department of Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
*
Author for correspondence: William A. Rutala, E-mail: brutala@med.unc.edu
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Abstract

We evaluated the robustness of sterilization technologies when spores and bacteria were placed on “dirty” instruments and overlaid with blood. The results illustrate that steam sterilization is the most effective sterilization technology with the largest margin of safety, followed by ethylene oxide and hydrogen peroxide gas plasma.

Type
Concise Communication
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 43 , Issue 9 , September 2022 , pp. 1262 - 1264
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

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Footnotes

PREVIOUS PRESENTATION. Part of these data were presented as an abstract at the Sixth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections, March 2020, held virtually (abstract published in ICHE 2020;41 suppl 1).

References

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