Accelerated hydrogen peroxide (AHP) is a trademark [lower-alpha 1] for solution of hydrogen peroxide whose antibacterial efficacy is enhanced by a surfactant and an organic acid. [1] [2] It is also a disinfectant/cleaning agent that stabilizes hydrogen peroxide so that it can be used for extended periods of time.
A 2% solution of accelerated hydrogen peroxide achieves a high level of disinfection in 5 minutes and is suitable for disinfecting hard plastic medical devices such as endoscopes. [3] In addition to being an excellent fungicide, chemicals using accelerated hydrogen peroxide have been suggested by some papers to be safer for humans and more environmentally friendly. [4]
In research done in 2016, accelerated hydrogen peroxide demonstrated effectiveness against the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV), along with Senecavirus A. [5]
Effectiveness against ringworm and parvovirus has also been cited by veterinarians. [6]
Recommendation by the World Health Organization
The WHO has announced that AHP is particularly effective in disinfecting hospital facilities, and cites accelerated hydrogen peroxide as one of the disinfectants that are used for adequate sterilization. [7]
Japan
In May 2020, accelerated hydrogen peroxide was utilized for disinfection when there was a rapid spread of COVID-19 on board the cruise vessel Costa Atlantica while anchored by the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard, [8] according to Japanese media. The product used for sterilization on the Costa Atlantica was OXILITE PRO, the first Japanese-made accelerated hydrogen peroxide disinfectant.
Canada
During the SARS pandemic in 2003, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care of Ontario published a training bulletin citing accelerated hydrogen peroxide solutions as effective agents against emergency vehicles and equipment used in transporting SARS infected patients. [9]
As of October 2020, Health Canada includes accelerate hydrogen peroxide disinfectants as effective solutions against SARS-CoV-2, the novel Coronavirus. [10]
United States
Between the years 2006 and 2011, amid risks of powerful bacteria such as Clostridioides difficile and MRSA infecting patients by adhering onto hospital facilities, Hunterdon Medical Center, which used accelerated hydrogen peroxide based disinfectants for sanitation, cut C. diff and MRSA infection rates by 79% and 66% respectively. [11] [12]
United Kingdom
In a 2007 guidance report by the Norovirus Working Group in the Health Protection Agency, together with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, accelerated hydrogen peroxide has been reported to show effectiveness against feline calicivirus, a surrogate for norovirus. [13]
An antiseptic is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue to reduce the possibility of sepsis, infection or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from antibiotics by the latter's ability to safely destroy bacteria within the body, and from disinfectants, which destroy microorganisms found on non-living objects.
Norovirus, also known as Norwalk virus and sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may also occur. Symptoms usually develop 12 to 48 hours after being exposed, and recovery typically occurs within one to three days. Complications are uncommon, but may include dehydration, especially in the young, the old, and those with other health problems.
Virkon is a multi-purpose disinfectant. It contains potassium peroxymonosulfate, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sulfamic acid, and inorganic buffers. It is typically used for cleaning up hazardous spills, disinfecting surfaces and soaking equipment. The solution is used in many areas, including hospitals, laboratories, nursing homes, funeral homes, dental and veterinary facilities, and anywhere else where control of pathogens is required.
Sterilization refers to any process that removes, kills, or deactivates all forms of life and other biological agents present in or on a specific surface, object, or fluid. Sterilization can be achieved through various means, including heat, chemicals, irradiation, high pressure, and filtration. Sterilization is distinct from disinfection, sanitization, and pasteurization, in that those methods reduce rather than eliminate all forms of life and biological agents present. After sterilization, an object is referred to as being sterile or aseptic.
Chlorine dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula ClO2 that exists as yellowish-green gas above 11 °C, a reddish-brown liquid between 11 °C and −59 °C, and as bright orange crystals below −59 °C. It is usually handled as an aqueous solution. It is commonly used as a bleach. More recent developments have extended its applications in food processing and as a disinfectant.
A disinfectant is a chemical substance or compound used to inactivate or destroy microorganisms on inert surfaces. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores; it is less effective than sterilization, which is an extreme physical or chemical process that kills all types of life. Disinfectants are generally distinguished from other antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics, which destroy microorganisms within the body, and antiseptics, which destroy microorganisms on living tissue. Disinfectants are also different from biocides—the latter are intended to destroy all forms of life, not just microorganisms. Disinfectants work by destroying the cell wall of microbes or interfering with their metabolism. It is also a form of decontamination, and can be defined as the process whereby physical or chemical methods are used to reduce the amount of pathogenic microorganisms on a surface.
An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals are used against fungi. They can also be classified according to their function. The use of antimicrobial medicines to treat infection is known as antimicrobial chemotherapy, while the use of antimicrobial medicines to prevent infection is known as antimicrobial prophylaxis.
A bedpan or bed pan is a device used as a receptacle for the urine and/or feces of a person who is confined to a bed and therefore not able to use a toilet or chamber pot.
Infection prevention and control is the discipline concerned with preventing healthcare-associated infections; a practical rather than academic sub-discipline of epidemiology. In Northern Europe, infection prevention and control is expanded from healthcare into a component in public health, known as "infection protection". It is an essential part of the infrastructure of health care. Infection control and hospital epidemiology are akin to public health practice, practiced within the confines of a particular health-care delivery system rather than directed at society as a whole.
Hand sanitizer is a liquid, gel or foam generally used to kill many viruses/bacteria/microorganisms on the hands. It can also come in the form of a cream, spray, or wipe. In most settings, hand washing with soap and water is generally preferred. Hand sanitizer is less effective at killing certain kinds of germs, such as norovirus and Clostridium difficile, and unlike hand washing, it cannot physically remove harmful chemicals. People may incorrectly wipe off hand sanitizer before it has dried, and some are less effective because their alcohol concentrations are too low.
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate is a chemical compound widely used as a cleansing agent and disinfectant. It is a colorless, water-soluble solid, produced as a result of reaction of cyanuric acid with chlorine. The dihydrate is also known as is the potassium salt.
Lysol is a brand of American cleaning and disinfecting products distributed by Reckitt, which markets the similar Dettol or Sagrotan in other markets. The line includes liquid solutions for hard and soft surfaces, air treatment, and hand washing. The active ingredient in many Lysol products is benzalkonium chloride, but the active ingredient in the Lysol "Power and Free" line is hydrogen peroxide. Lysol has been used since its invention in the late 19th century as a household and industrial cleaning agent, and previously as a medical disinfectant.
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove colour (whitening) from fabric or fiber or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically to a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite, also called "liquid bleach".
A virucide is any physical or chemical agent that deactivates or destroys viruses. The substances are not only virucidal but can be also bactericidal, fungicidal, sporicidal or tuberculocidal.
In health care facilities, isolation represents one of several measures that can be taken to implement in infection control: the prevention of communicable diseases from being transmitted from a patient to other patients, health care workers, and visitors, or from outsiders to a particular patient. Various forms of isolation exist, in some of which contact procedures are modified, and others in which the patient is kept away from all other people. In a system devised, and periodically revised, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), various levels of patient isolation comprise application of one or more formally described "precaution".
Vaporized hydrogen peroxide (trademarked VHP, also known as hydrogen peroxide vapor, HPV) is a vapor form of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with applications as a low-temperature antimicrobial vapor used to decontaminate enclosed and sealed areas such as laboratory workstations, isolation and pass-through rooms, and even aircraft interiors.
The central sterile services department (CSSD), also called sterile processing department (SPD), sterile processing, central supply department (CSD), or central supply, is an integrated place in hospitals and other health care facilities that performs sterilization and other actions on medical devices, equipment and consumables; for subsequent use by health workers in the operating theatre of the hospital and also for other aseptic procedures, e.g. catheterization, wound stitching and bandaging in a medical, surgical, maternity or paediatric ward.
A toilet plume is the invisible dispersal of microscopic particles as a result of flushing a toilet. Simply put, it is the aerosolization of raw sewage, vomitus or menstrual fluid from the toilet bowl. There is indirect evidence that specific pathogens such as norovirus or SARS coronavirus could potentially be spread by toilet aerosols, but as of 2015, no direct experimental studies had clearly demonstrated or refuted actual disease transmission from toilet aerosols. It has been hypothesized that dispersal of pathogens may be reduced by closing the toilet lid before flushing, and by using toilets with lower flush energy.
Because door handles are commonplace and are interacted with by large numbers of people on a daily basis, they present opportunities for growth of bacterial colonies.
Diving equipment may be exposed to contamination in use and when this happens it must be decontaminated. This is a particular issue for hazmat diving, but incidental contamination can occur in other environments. Personal diving equipment shared by more than one user requires disinfection before use. Shared use is common for expensive commercial diving equipment, and for rental recreational equipment, and some items such as demand valves, masks, helmets and snorkels which are worn over the face or held in the mouth are possible vectors for infection by a variety of pathogens. Diving suits are also likely to be contaminated, but less likely to transmit infection directly.