Challenges

2019-nCoV is an enveloped virus that belongs to the Coronaviruses group. Coronaviruses can cause respiratory infections in mammals and birds, going from common colds to pneumonia and bronchitis. Coronaviruses have the particularity to cause both upper (nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx) and lower (lungs) respiratory tract infections. They can be transmitted from human to human when there is close contact via droplets when sneezing and coughing. Those droplets can reach the nasal cavity, the mouth or directly the lungs at a distance of 1.8 m. Infected people can be contagious during the viral incubation period, even if they are asymptomatic, and they become more contagious when symptoms start to appear.

The situation is getting worse every year, causing countless MDROs outbreaks worldwide, and tens of thousands of victims. It is estimated that by the year 2050, more people will die because of MDRO infections than because of cancer. MDROs infections also have an « economic burden » in healthcare institutions, due to expensive treatments that sometimes do not work, longer hospital stays, etc. 

There is now evidence that several pathogenous microorganisms such as Clostridioides Difficile and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) can persist on contaminated surfaces for several months, therefore, they can be spread by patients or healthcare workers to other surfaces or directly to other patients, potentially causing cross infections or at a higher scale, outbreaks.

Similarly to hand hygiene, environmental hygiene is a real challenge, which can be overcome by playing on different elements: the choice of the right surface disinfection product, understanding better the human factor, and how to facilitate the implementation of such changes.