This study investigated the incidence of contaminated tissue dispenser systems in healthcare facilities and the effect of surface disinfectant composition on the ability of isolates to multiply. A random sample 66 wipe dispensers for surface disinfection were randomly collected from 15 healthcare facilities. The solutions were tested for bacterial contamination. The focus was on products containing surfactants such as quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC), amines, glucoprotamines or amphoteric surfactants. Of the 66 dispensers, 28 from 9 facilities were contaminated with Achromobacter species. In none of the facilities had the dispensers been properly reprocessed according to the manufacturer's instructions. Contaminated solutions were based on surfactants without additional aldehyde or alcohol. Preparations containing aldehyde or alcohol were not found to be significantly contaminated. The isolated bacteria regained susceptibility to disinfectants after five passages without selection pressure, but were still able to multiply in different formulations from different manufacturers at room temperature within 7 days.
PubMed link