Given cleaning is on everyone’s mind in this new COVID-19 era, here are the results of a recent study which assessed cleaning habits and effectiveness in veterinary hospitals.
- Regularly cleaning was reported to occur in radiology, bathrooms, and patient wards. However, small animal treatment areas appeared to receive minimal cleaning.
- When cage cleaning was assessed, cages in wards were most frequently cleaned, whilst cages in ICU and pre-operative surgery cases are less frequently cleaned. This is concerning as these patients are the ones most likely at risk of hospital acquired infections.
- Human touch surfaces (eg otoscopes, ophthalmoscopes, dog run handles, computers and their accessories) are less likely to be cleaned compared to animal-touch surfaces.
Reference – Langdon, G., Hoet, A. E., & Stull, J. W. (2020). Fluorescent tagging for environmental surface cleaning surveillance in a veterinary hospital. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 61(2), 121–126.
