Hospitals are often required to disinfect their water
systems to protect individuals from contracting
hospital-acquired Legionnaires' disease. The
authors of this article recently studied one Pennsylvania
hospital that adopted a chlorine dioxide (ClO2) system
to disinfect its water supply across the 23 buildings that
comprise the hospital complex. After reviewing the
various disinfection alternatives, ClO2 was considered a
cost-effective approach given that ClO2 generators
could treat the 23 buildings from one central location.
Complete eradication (0% positivity) of Legionella was
achieved after 1.75 years, and no cases of Legionnaires'
disease were reported during this time.
The use of ClO2 to treat a hospital's water supply is
not common in the United States; however, it has been
used in European hospitals. After the ClO2 system was
installed in 2002, the authors studied the system to
evaluate its efficacy in controlling Legionella, determine
whether an effective residual could be maintained
throughout the distribution system, provide data that
other facilities could use, and assist the hospital with
maximizing the system. Includes 30 references, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 96 - No. 1 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 1.3 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 01/01/2004 |
