A systematic review of hospital cleaning practices has revealed that major lapses were found in hospital cleaning practices. As per the review, not much quality data was found of proper environmental cleaning methods.

According to Jennifer Han of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, about 80 studies were conducted, and 49 of them evaluated cleaning methods, while 14 examined monitoring strategies. Rest of the studies analyzed the facilitators to implementation, Han added.

While providing more information, Han and colleagues wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine that just five studies were randomized controlled trials. According to the authors, they noticed requirement of more studies on Monitoring strategies and disinfecting methods.

The results have suggested that there is a need of more accurate and effective trials to figure out what could be the best hospital cleaning practices, so that harmful infection could be prevented, they said. According to the authors, there is a need to prevent infection which is transmitted through bed rails, toilets, tables and other things in a hospital.

Han said, “The study came about because of a recently increased interest in the role of environmental cleaning and reducing HAIs because there are a lot of newer technologies for disinfection such as ultraviolet (UV) light and hydrogen peroxide vapor”.

As per the data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in 25 American inpatients get affected by HAIs every day. In 2011, more than 70,000 people in America died from HAIs.