Research

Market Research

…protect you and your patients more effectively
from viral and bacterial infection.

Sterilizer biological monitoring, also known as spore testing, alerts professionals dependent on sterilization as a core element in client and staff infection control protocols to failures in their sterilization equipment and/or procedures. Recognized as the definitive way to demonstrate sterilizer effectiveness by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), several states now require, or strongly recommend, weekly spore testing for medical and dental offices.

Increasing Infection Risks
World wide, the number of viral infections such as hepatitis, herpes, HIV, etc. are increasing daily. You, your staff and your patients are increasingly exposed to higher infection risks through:
1. Contact with infections from direct exposure to the mouth, blood or saliva of patients.
2. The spread of infections through cross contamination via hands, instruments or other commonly used materials.
3. Direct site infections due to accidental cutting or punctures with non-sterile instruments.

Sterilization Failure
Most sterilization failures occur due to errors by the sterilizer operator, e.g. overloading the sterilizer. The gauges and printers on the sterilizer may indicate that the sterilizer had successfully met all physical parameters, i.e. temperature, pressure and time. There is however, no indication that a particular valve or air release nozzle may have been blocked. This can lead to the formation of “cool spots” in the sterilization chamber resulting in sterilization failure. An overloaded sterilizer is very often the cause of sterilization failure, in addition to interruptions of the sterilization cycle during momentary power serge or failure.

Regular Testing with Global Autoclave Compliance Provides Certainty
Following the introduction of a regular spore testing program, a scientific study showed that with sterilizers routinely monitored using biological indicators, failures declined. The incidence of sterilization failure fell from 8.5% to 1.3%. Regular sterilization testing can also reduce to a minimum the risks of sterilization failure in your practice.

Blood-Borne Pathogens
Blood-borne pathogens are pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B (HBV) are both dangerous blood-borne pathogens. According to the CDC, more than 45,000 people were diagnosed with full-blown AIDS last year alone, while there were an estimated 1-1.25 million Americans infected with HBV.

Risk Groups
Healthcare workers are on the CDC’s list of high-risk groups for exposure to infectious disease. This risk may be greatly reduced with the use of universal precautions and effective sterilization procedures. The CDC emphasizes the importance of adhering to universal precautions that require that the blood and other bodily fluids of all patients be handled as biohazards. This is especially important due to the fact that a patient may show no outward signs or symptoms that allow positive identification of these illnesses. In addition to exercising universal precautions and other methods of infection control, all healthcare workers who might be exposed to blood in an occupational setting should receive a hepatitis B vaccination, preferably during their period of professional training and before any occupational exposures could occur.

Compliance with universal precautions and recommendations for disinfection and sterilization of medical devices should be scrupulously monitored in all healthcare settings. Proper application of these principles will assist in minimizing the risks of transmission of infection from patient to healthcare worker, healthcare worker to patient, or patient-to-patient contact.

Sterilization vs. Disinfection
Medical offices that rely solely on disinfection are more at risk to exposure of infectious disease than those who sterilize their equipment after use. There is a significant difference between disinfection and sterilization. Sterilization is the process of destroying all forms of microbial life including infectious bacteria, viruses, yeasts, molds and bacterial spores. Disinfection is the process of destroying disease-causing microorganisms, but cannot insure the destruction of bacterial spores. For additional information on the different methods of sterilization available today, please feel free to contact us.