---
title: Lazy? Naïve? Complacent?
description: Lazy? Naïve? Complacent?
---

<https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources>

# [Lazy? Naïve? Complacent?](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2016/11/lazy-naive-complacent.html)

 Written by [Nicole Kenny](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/author/nicole-kenny) | Nov 25, 2016 5:48:00 PM

<http://static1.squarespace.com/static/595689fc9de4bbc892200518/t/59568ac85fd63b5f292875ac/1498845410687//img.png.com/static/595689fc9de4bbc892200518/t/59568ac85fd63b5f292875ad/1498843848195/1000w/>

Do you ever sit back and wonder how the human race has  
 managed to survive and evolve?   I’ll  
 admit, there are days that I do.   When we  
 first launched the Talk Clean to Me blog back in 2011, I wrote a blog titled “ [To  
 Clean or Not to Clean…](http://talkcleantome.blogspot.ca/2011/06/to-clean-or-not-to-clean.html) ” that opened with examples of self-cleaning  
 products.   I’m embarrassed to say I now  
 own a self-cleaning kitty litter, but happy to say after 5 years, my  
 self-cleaning pool vacuum (aka my husband James) is still working fine!   The focus of the self-cleaning blog was the  
 fact that cleaning is important.    
Cleaning is necessary as it removes dirt that can harbour  
 pathogens.   It can save lives and while we  
 can develop self-cleaning devices, we cannot get away from having to physically  
 remove the dirt ourselves.

In October I wrote a blog “[The  
 quest for the silver bullet](http://talkcleantome.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-quest-for-silver-bullet.html)” which again talked about our obsession with  
 developing surfaces that will kill pathogens.   
 As I concluded in that blog, it’s not that I’m against innovation, but what  
 I am against is the use of Silver Bullets like doorknobs, handrails, or what  
 have you made out of antimicrobial agents when we have not addressed the fact  
 that hand hygiene rates continue to be dismal or we continue to understaff  
 housekeeping departments.

Hence the title of this week’s blog.  I’m not sure if we’ve just become a society built  
 on entitlement and laziness that think we’re too good to clean up after  
 ourselves, or if we are simply naïve because of the constant bombardment of new  
 technologies,  or if we are just unaware  
 of the potential dangers that come with  blindly believing in  the success of these self-cleaning surfaces.   

A recent letter to the editor in ICHE talks to just  
 this.  Titled “[Antimicrobial  
 Curtains: Are They as Clean as You Think?](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0899823X16001860)”<https://www.blogger.com/null>, this  
 letter discusses an investigation to determine the degree of contamination of  
 antimicrobial curtains that had been implemented at their facility.  The long and the short is that 95% of the  
 curtains they sampled showed bacterial growth and included both Gram-negative  
 and Gram-positive organisms!  While there  
 are published studies that support the fact that there is a reduction of  
 pathogens on pre-treated textiles, there are studies that show that these  
 surfaces can and do become contaminated with pathogenic organisms.  If we blindly believe that they only need to  
 be changed when visibly soiled, we are forgetting the fact that we cannot see  
 pathogens with our naked eye and could be ignoring a very real fomite that  
 could be the reservoir for contaminating the hands of healthcare workers.   Can they help to reduce the load?  Yes.   
 Should we wait until they look dirty to us to change?  Probably not.   
 If we’re truly looking to protect our patients we probably should change  
 the curtains upon terminal cleaning regardless of how clean they look!

*  
*

*Bugging Off!*

Nicole 

[View full post](https://www.viroxanimalhealth.com/resources/talkcleantome/2016/11/lazy-naive-complacent.html)

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