Want to bring down HAI rates?
Start using Simix on your floors.
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Traditional wax and old-school cleaners create a breeding ground for HAI (healthcare acquired infections). That’s because liquid cleaners leave a biofilm that pulls grime from the bottom of shoes, creating a surface that’s a breeding ground for germs.
With Simix, you can lower infection rates and reduce slip-and-falls. And with Simix, you’ll save both time and money on reduced daily floor maintenance. The choice is simple. Cling to the current floor finishes (just like those microbes do) or move into the future with a brighter, safer, and less expensive alternative: Simix. The Problem: Bacteria, Viruses and Microbes Nearly half of hospital rooms of patients infected with drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii are contaminated with bacteria, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control. Testing of 10 sites in each room, including door knobs, bedrails, ventilator touch pads, floors and others, found at least one of these sites was colonized with A. baumannii bacteria in 48 percent of rooms. Supply cart drawer handles were contaminated most often, with 20 percent testing positive, followed by floors, infusion pumps and touch pads. This highlights the importance of good hospital cleaning practices and long-lasting, effective cleaning practices, especially in high-traffic areas. Obviously, keeping hospitals clean of bacteria is of paramount importance in avoiding deadly infection in post-surgery patients and others with compromised immune systems. A 2007 study by Tufts found that every year, 2 million patients contract infections in hospitals, with an estimated 103,000 of these patients dying due to that infection. These infections add approximately $30 billion dollars to hospital costs each year. While most of this cost is absorbed by the hospital, some is incurred by the patient, insurer, and taxpayer. Reducing the viability of these microbes would save many lives and a lot of money. The danger with hospital infections is that these germs generally cannot be treated with common antibiotics. In particular, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the deadliest germs in hospitals. It is drug-resistant, dangerous, and can remain viable in hospitals long after the patient has left. |
How do floors spread germs? |
Another healthcare associated infectious microbe, Clostridium difficile (C. diff), is also causing problems due to its prevalence in hospital settings. This microbe can cause colitis and even lead to death, and since 2003, there has been a dramatic and rapid increase in the amount of C. diff-associated diseases. Treating these patients costs $3,000 to $10,000, with 300,000 cases each year.
Besides excellent hygiene by hospital staff, another effective way to prevent the spread of these microbes and others is to keep surfaces clean. People don’t usually think of a floor this way, but remember that floors are the biggest surface area in the hospital. The average large hospital in the United States has 644,000 square feet of floors. They are used by visitors and patients who have not necessarily been screened for any bacteria. It is critical that floors be kept clean. Having a clean floor will reduce the risk of hospital acquired infections and will result in lower operating costs. Problem: The Old Way of Cleaning For decades, people have cleaned with chlorine bleach solutions, phenolic-based disinfectants, iodophors and iodine, and quaternary ammonium compounds (quats). All of these methods have issues. Chlorine bleach is not an effective cleaner. It can harm people. It reacts with other chemicals and creates toxic byproducts. And it’s corrosive to metals, will discolor fabrics and will damage floor finishes. It’s also expensive. Phenolic based disinfectants are effective anti-microbials and last a long time. However, they can be toxic to skin and eyes, are flammable, and will leave a film on cleaned surfaces that will need to be dealt with. Phenolic cleaners are also capable of damaging floor finishes. Iodophors and iodine solutions have a broad range of killing ability but have disadvantages. They have a slow killing time and are toxic if ingested. They are inactivated by hard water and must be discarded and remixed on a daily basis. Also, they can stain fabrics and are corrosive to metal and rubber materials. Quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) are effective killers of microbials, but they do not kill endospores, un-enveloped viruses, or the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) bacteria. They are also ineffective in the presence of organic compounds, so in the presence of blood, feces, urine, etc., quats are not viable. Soaps and other anionic detergents easily neutralize the antimicrobial properties of this antiseptic. In addition, the fibers of cotton, gauze, and bandages also neutralize quats. High water hardness will also reduce microbiocidal activity. 
The Simix Solution
A floor finish disinfectant that utilizes extremes of pH for long-term application is ideal in reducing or eliminating microbial activity on floors, as almost no microbe would be able to survive a pH above 11. In 2009, Simix ran a series of tests with a microbial testing lab to determine what range of pH microbes survive in, when they would die, and what can kill them other than an EPA registered biocide. Simix Ceramic Floor Coating maintains a permanent pH greater than 12, which is way outside of the range of habitation for microbes that everyone is worried about. If you start with a surface where the microbes can’t exist, all you need to do is maintain the cleanliness of that surface and you will not have an issue with the microbes growing and colonizing. Current floor coating technologies widely used in hospitals and elsewhere are all within a pH range of 7 – 8.5, which is right in the range where microbes survive and colonize. On top of that, you are required to only use a pH neutral cleaner or an EPA registered biocide (that is in the same pH range) on those floor finishes and you now have the beginning of a perfect storm scenario that makes it easy for microbes to survive and cause havoc. What is wrong with pH neutral cleaners or EPA registered pH neutral biocides? All cleaners — whether they are a liquid or a powder — will leave a residue on a floor when you mop or use an auto scrubber to clean. That sticky residue that maintains a pH of 6.5 – 8.5, which is just the sort of environment where microbes can flourish. So how about using a high pH cleaner? That’s a problem for most floor finishes. A high pH will remove a typical floor finish; the more parts per million, the faster the removal. This is how Simix can help you lower HAI rates and keep patients healthier. Simix Multi-Surface Cleaner leaves a residue that has a pH of 12.7. Simix Ceramic Floor Coating maintains a pH higher than 11. Our coated floors are stronger than steel. Our new technology will give you floors that will never yellow, crack, chip or peel — floors that can withstand the high pH in Simix Multi-Surface Cleaner. Thus, our floors help you fight infection rates by creating a high pH shield where microbes die. But our products do more than that. Simix products all contain nano-particles of titanium dioxide. When UV rays hit our titanium dioxide, they convert water (in the air) to produce a radical form of hydrogen peroxide. This safe oxidizer then nicks away at organic matter like bacteria, algae and mold until those things are completely destroyed. Links to more information:
Healthcare Associated Infections - Data and Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/surveillance/index.html Hospital Acquired Infections Linked to Hospital Readmission Rates http://www.ihconline.org/UserDocs/Pages/HAI_linked_to_higher_readmission_rates_2012-5-28.pdf National Education Association Statistics on Schools http://www.nea.org/home/54597.htm Infectious Diseases at School http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/infectious The Direct Medical Costs of HAI in US Hospitals and the Benefitsd of Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/pdfs/hai/Scott_CostPaper.pdf Germiest Places at School http://www.nsf.org/consumer-resources/studies-articles/germ-studies/germiest-places-schools |
