Health care acquired infections are a significant safety risk to patients during hospital admissions. MUSC has many efforts underway to combat these infections, including bundles that address catheter associated urinary tract infections, ventilator associated pneumonias and central line associated blood stream infections. But we also must look at the environment; the recent edition of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology reminds us of the many pathogens that live in the environment for hours, days and even months. MUSC's compliance with hand hygiene rivals most other US academic medical centers; however, clinicians must remember that washing their hands as they walk into the room does not ensure they will not get contaminated in the room. Cleaning the environment sufficiently is difficult; up to 50% of surfaces are not routinely cleaned by clinical or environmental services personnel. New technologies such as automatic ultraviolet-C (UVC) emitters and hydrogen peroxide vapor room disinfection may show promise.

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