The Impact of Biofilms on Cleaning, Disinfection of Surfaces and Reprocessing of Reusable Medical Devices
A special issue of Hygiene (ISSN 2673-947X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 46718
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biofilms; decontamination; disinfection; medical devices; infection control; chronic infection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Faculty of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil
Interests: biofilms; decontamination; sterilization; disinfection; medical devices
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Biofilms are an aggregation of microorganisms encased by extracellular polymeric substances adhered to surfaces, which protect them from detergent/disinfectant/sterilizing action. When formed on healthcare facility surfaces (dry-surface biofilm), and on reusable medical devices (build-up biofilm), this microbial consortium represents a great challenge for healthcare-associated infection control and prevention. Thus, evidence-based strategies and practices to prevent biofilm formation and the chemical fixation of existing biofilms, as well as to remove biofilms from environmental surfaces and reusable medical devices are required to minimize pathogen transmission and, therefore, to deliver safer care to the patients.
This Special Issue aims to address the improvement of cleaning, disinfection and sterilization at healthcare facilities by presenting evidence-based strategies and practices to prevent biofilm formation, chemical fixation, and to remove biofilms from environmental surfaces and reusable medical devices.
This Special Issue welcomes contributions that discuss, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- The identification of dry-surface and/or build-up biofilm;
- Strategies/practices/technologies for the prevention of dry-surface and/or build-up biofilm formation;
- Strategies/practices/technologies for the prevention of dry-surface and/or build-up biofilm chemical fixation;
- Strategies/practices/technologies for removing dry-surface and/or build-up biofilm.
Dr. Honghua Hu
Dr. Dayane de Melo Costa
Prof. Dr. Stephanie Dancer
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- biofilms
- decontamination
- cleaning
- disinfection
- sterilization
- medical devices
- healthcare facility surfaces
- infection control
- healthcare associated infection
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