The typical flu season in America runs from October through mid-May. Physicians, administrators and managers are all wondering how they will handle this year’s patient activity and what additional steps are needed to maintain facility cleanliness.

Patient rooms, exam rooms and waiting areas need constant attention to cleanliness. Using the correct products and procedures is critically important to the reduction of nosocomial infections and the spread and transmission of disease, as well as the overall appearance of the area.

To prevent infection, routine control practices should be used with all patients at all times regardless of presumed infectious status or diagnosis. Common routine infection control practices include:

• The separation of infected, contagious patients, including those with respiratory symptoms, from uninfected patients

• Hand cleaning before and after contact with every patient. Wash hands with soap and warm water for 15 to 30 seconds. Waterless or alcohol-based hand antiseptics are also effective. Soap and water should be used if hands are visibly soiled.

• The use of gloves as an additional measure, not as a substitute for hand washing

• The use of personal protective equipment, such as gowns, masks and eye protection, during patient care activities likely to generate splashes or sprays of blood, body fluids, secretions or excretions

• Availability of mouthpieces and resuscitation bags for performing CPR

• The safe handling and disposal of needles and other sharp devices

• Routine appropriate sterilization and disinfection of reusable equipment and office surfaces, including counters and furniture

Employees do their best using the traditional cleaning solutions, such as disinfectants, commercial cleaning solutions, hand gels and the popular disinfectant wipes. However, cross-contamination continues to be an issue.

“We do our best to keep our lobby and patient rooms clean,” Dr. John Chen said, “but we also worry about whether or not we miss areas or [are] doing enough in regards to fighting the spread of germs.”

What is cross-contamination? Cross-contamination is the act of spreading bacteria and viruses from one surface to another. Germs could be spread when surfaces are not disinfected the right way or if surfaces are not cleaned and sterilized between patients.

Germs can be transferred from surfaces to hands and vice-versa, and they can live on dry surfaces for several hours and moist surfaces for up to three days. A single germ can spread to dozens of individuals like wildfire.

For example, kindergarteners all the way up to high-school seniors share just about everything with their classmates: school busses, desks, countertops, drinking fountains, bathrooms, cafeteria tables, gymnasiums and locker rooms. All harbor bacteria and viruses in prime conditions for them to flourish. This same type of “germ transportation” is very common in health care settings.

However, none of these products previously mentioned protect patients or staff from cross-contamination. They are all extremely effective in killing germs if applied correctly. But once the surface is contacted again by a sick individual, the surface is re-infected.

With most doctors and hospitals seeing numerous individuals a day, it is nearly impossible to keep common “high touch point” areas germ free. Protecting against cross-contamination and infection control is a 24/7 task.

Recently, however, several industries, including the medical industry, have started to acknowledge the use of new “Antimicrobial Nanotechnology” to fight against disease-causing organisms typically caused by cross-contamination.

Whereas previous antimicrobials allowed for genetic adaptations, the nanotechnology is a “mechanical kill” instead of a poison. This mechanical kill eliminates the microbes from changing and adapting into superbugs.

Current producers of antimicrobial nanotechnology have a long-lasting, environmentally safe, non-leaching, water-soluble solution that will eventually replace all the poisons that are currently used to clean facilities.

So what should you look for when considering an antimicrobial service for your facility? First and foremost, the product should be EPA registered so you know it has been tested and does what it says it does.

Second, the service should have a guarantee or quality assurance process to ensure once your facility is treated, it remains “self-sanitizing” for the duration of service.

Finally, the service company should be using a product that is long lasting. The purpose of using this new technology is to give your staff peace of mind that their facility is sanitized, even if areas are missed during routine cleaning.

Like any new device or product, embracing this new technology will take time. Employees are accustomed to using old “stand-by” products, such as wipes and disinfectant sprays, but these don’t work against cross-contamination.

So as more individuals become familiar with these new technologies, more will see how their benefits outweigh the traditional ways of keeping facilities clean and germ free.