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A STUDY TO ASSESS THE VALUE OF DISINFECTANTS WHEN WASHING WARD FLOORS
Author(s) -
Palmer Philip H.,
Yeoman David M.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1972.tb47542.x
Subject(s) - disinfectant , petri dish , contamination , toxicology , pulp and paper industry , agar , sterile water , value (mathematics) , environmental science , waste management , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , mathematics , biology , engineering , bacteria , ecology , statistics , organic chemistry , genetics
Bacterial floor counts by an impression agar method, using ordinary disposable Petri dishes, were carried out in two wards which were washed with either hot water and disinfectants or hot water alone. No lasting suppression of bacterial numbers was achieved with the disinfectant washes compared with the water washes. The amount of contamination appeared to be related to the amount of traffic over the test areas. The value of using disinfectants is therefore questioned when washing floor surfaces, except in special circumstances.