Autonomous uv robots for disinfection, effective in the fight against nosocomial infections | ROmedic.ro

Nosocomial infections are a pathology that is vastly underappreciated in our society. Official hospital data suggest incidence rates of 0.2 – 0.25%, whereas a European research from 2018 found a frequency of 2.6%, representing about 100,000 cases registered annually in Romania.

The most common known nosocomial pathogens are either viruses, fungi, or bacteria. Bacteria, despite being unicellular organisms, have survived for over three billion years due to their adaptability and genetic plasticity. These mechanisms also help bacteria acquire resistance to antibiotics, detergents, and disinfectants. Gram-negative bacteria are more resistant to disinfectants due to their outer membrane. Additionally, mutations undergone by viruses are an important factor contributing to the spread of diseases. Therefore, these pathogens are capable of surviving on surfaces for years and can be transmitted to people within healthcare facilities – patients or personnel.

An identified cause of the high number of nosocomial infections in our country is also the architecture of hospitals. Some of them, built many years ago, do not meet current space requirements – the wards are small or crowded, with multiple beds, so standard disinfection methods can be difficult to apply, which increases the risk of transmission of pathogens.

Understanding the transmission routes of nosocomial infections can be important for preventing their spread. The three factors for transfer of pathogens include a susceptible host, a virulent pathogen, and a favorable environment. Regulating the first two factors involves a series of diagnostic methods, care techniques, and treatments tailored to the age and integrity of the patients’ immune systems. However, the third factor, the favorable environment, involves strict strategies and modern procedures for disinfecting air and surfaces, using effective and modern methods.

Nosocomial pathogens are primarily transmitted through direct contact – from one person to another. Transmission can occur through contaminated skin, water or food, but also through contact with objects, surfaces or medical instruments. Therefore, strict disinfection procedures are extremely important to prevent their transmission, ranging from strict hand hygiene, to proper protective equipment for medical staff and appropriate cleaning of surfaces and air inside healthcare facilities.

According to specialized research, careful attention to cleanliness guidelines and effective medical practice helps to the prevention of more than half of all nosocomial illnesses. Controlling the transmission of infections and communicable illnesses more effectively, employing efficient cleaning procedures, can not only reduce their incidence but also extra health costs (related to longer hospital stays, complex and longer-term medication treatments, etc.).

Currently, the most commonly used methods of disinfection in medical facilities involve professional cleaning products, detergents and disinfectants, and administrative staff to apply agreed practices and procedures. However, as previously mentioned, disinfectant products – no matter how expensive – can be ineffective against pathogen resistance, and administrative staff may be less rigorous in applying established procedures. Moreover, some of the chemical substances used for disinfection can be aggressive and harmful, both to people and the environment.

In addition, detergents and disinfectants have no impact on airborne pathogens. Let’s not forget that disinfectants commonly used to clean surfaces do not inactivate antibiotic-resistant genetic material. These genetic materials persist in the environment and can be transferred to neighboring bacteria through horizontal gene transfer.