--- title: I think my dear Watson the culprit was the Privacy Curtain..... description: I think my dear Watson the culprit was the Privacy Curtain..... --- - **[SEARCH](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/search-0)** ** - **[CONTACT US](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/contact-us)** - **SDS** - [**Companion Animal**](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/companion-animal-msds) - [**Farm Animal**](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/farm-animal-msds) ## Something Powerful # Resources     ## I think my dear Watson the culprit was the Privacy Curtain..... What I find so interesting about the field of infection control and the prevention of infections is the fact that on almost a daily basis you can have an "AH-HA" moment that has the potential to change our current ways of practice.  Ferreting out the "culprit or culprits" that could be a reservoir for potentially pathogenic organisms is very much like playing [Sherlock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes). Nothing is elementary; everything has the potential to be the prime suspect. Our investigations need to move beyond the obvious, we need to start looking outside of the box and consider that perhaps we have not identified ALL of the high touch surfaces that have the potential to contaminate hands. I think it would be safe to say that most of us do not give much thought to hospital privacy curtains except to perhaps think "boy that is an ugly pattern or colour". I would even hedge a bet that if you were to review your facility's infection prevention and control policies you would find only a small statement (if anything at all) that mentions that they should be changed when visibly soiled and/or after completing a terminal clean of an Isolation Room. I mean they're curtains for Pete’s sake!  Why would we give them another thought? To answer that question perhaps we should conduct a study that investigates how many times privacy curtains are touched on a daily basis by healthcare workers (HCWs), patients and visitors. Like studies that look at the number of cars that pass through a particular intersection to determine traffic flow etc, I think we would be blown away by the frequency this seemingly innocuous surface is touched.   In a study recently published in AJIC, [Ohl et al](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22464039) investigated the persistence of bacterial contamination on privacy curtains over a 3 week period.  Of the 43 curtains tested in the study, 95.5% showed contamination on at least 1 occasion and the 13 curtains that were changed during this time period showed that within a week 92.3% of the new curtains were found to be contaminated with pathogens associated with HAIs.  AH-HA moment #1 - CURTAINS ARE CONTAMINATED!!! Now that we know the curtains are contaminated, what impact do they play with hand hygiene and how do we clean/disinfect them? Realistically, HCWs are quite likely to touch the curtains after they have performed HH and donned gloves but before performing patient care activities. Yes, HH was completed, but have we now just unwittingly contaminated our hands by touching the curtain?  AH-HA moment #2 - CURTAINS CAN LIKELY CONTAMINATE HANDS!  Now, how on earth can we clean/disinfect them or put procedures into place that can eliminate or reduce contamination? This is where we need more science; however, there was a poster presented by [Price et al](http://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(12)00346-X/fulltext) at the 2012 APIC conference that used H2O2 to clean the leading edge of the curtain where contact was most likely and showed that yes, one can conceivably implement a cleaning strategy that can help to reduce contamination. Using a 3% H202 solution did significantly reduce the bio-burden load on the curtain within 5 minutes and continued to show a decrease up to 2 hrs post application. Another alternative could be the use of barriers. Similar to a dental operatory where barrier covers are routinely used, we could consider applying a barrier cover on the leading edge of the curtain that can be changed perhaps on a daily basis to help reduce contamination. AH-HA moment #3 - WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT A PROCESS TO REDUCE CURTAIN CONTAMINATION We still have a lot of sleuthing left to do my dear Watson, but knowing that HCWs, patients and visitors frequently touch curtains and knowing that touching contaminated surfaces can contaminate hands suggests the potential for transmission of pathogenic organisms from curtains to hands to patients.  Perhaps we need to consider that privacy curtains are a high touch surface that can be a significant source of pathogenic contamination. *Bugging Off!* Nicole ## Search All Resources ## Browse by Category - MSDS/SDS - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/companion-animal-msds) - [• Farm Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/farm-animal-msds) - [Protocols & Procedures](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2013/01/i-think-my-dear-watson-culprit-was.html#) - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/protocols-and-procedures-companion-animal) - • Farm Animal → [CDN](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/farm-animal-canada) | [USA](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/protocols-and-procedures-farm-animal) - [Technical Bulletins](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2013/01/i-think-my-dear-watson-culprit-was.html#) - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/techncial-bulletins-companion-animal) - [• Farm Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/technical-bulletins-farm-animal) - [Pathogen Fact Sheets](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/pathogen-fact-sheets) - [Industry Guidelines](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/industry-guidelines) - [Industry Publications](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2013/01/i-think-my-dear-watson-culprit-was.html#) - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/industry-publications-companion-animal) - [• Farm Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/industry-publications-farm-animal) - [Product Use Information](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2013/01/i-think-my-dear-watson-culprit-was.html#) - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/product-use-information-companion-animal) - [• Farm Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/product-use-information-farm-animal) - [Reference Sheets](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2013/01/i-think-my-dear-watson-culprit-was.html#) - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/reference-sheets-companion-animal) - [• Farm Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/reference-sheets-farm-animal) - [AHP® Abstracts & Research Posters](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2013/01/i-think-my-dear-watson-culprit-was.html#) - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/ahp-abstracts-research-posters-companion-animal) - [• Farm Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/ahp-abstracts-research-posters-farm-animal) - [AHP® Peer Reviewed Articles](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2013/01/i-think-my-dear-watson-culprit-was.html#) - [• Companion Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/ahp-peer-reviewed-articles-companion-animal) - [• Farm Animal →](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/ahp-peer-reviewed-articles-farm-animal) - [AHP® vs Competitive Chemistries ](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/topic/ahp-vs-competitive-chemistries) - [ AHP® Compatibility ](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/ahp-compatibility) - [ Testimonials ](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/testimonials) - [ Videos ](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/videos) - [ Fear Free](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/fear-free-and-ahp) - [ Blog](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/blog)       [![BottomLogoGrey-VAH](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ViroxAnimalHealth/Logos/BottomLogoGrey-VAH.jpg?width=100&name=BottomLogoGrey-VAH.jpg "BottomLogoGrey-VAH")](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/) [CONTACT US](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/contact-us)  |  [PRIVACY POLICY](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/privacy-policy)  |  [TERMS OF USE](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/terms-of-use) [** ** (open in a new window)](https://www.youtube.com/user/ViroxAHP) [** ** (open in a new window)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/virox-animal-health) [** ** (open in a new window)](https://twitter.com/AHPbiosecurity) [** ** (open in a new window)](https://www.facebook.com/ViroxAnimalHealth/)   © 2003-2022 VIROX TECHNOLOGIES INC [Virox® Animal Health is a division of Virox® Technologies Inc.](http://www.virox.com/) Website by [BOLD](http://www.boldinternet.com/) AHP® and Design and Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide® and Design are trademarks of Diversey, Inc.