We commonly get excited when new technology hits the ground. Sometimes, excitement exceeds the evidence in support of an intervention.At VCU, we aggressively deploy UVC robots for terminal cleaning of C. difficile as published here. The impact has been modest (as expected).
This recent paper, by Alex Marra, Marin Schweizer and Mike Edmond, is the most comprehensive assessment of the impact of no-touch disinfection methods to decrease MDR pathogens. The authors beautifully estimate the impact of touchless technologies using a comprehensive literature review and pooled risk estimates.
No touch disinfection can impact C. difficile and VRE infection rates but only as an augmentation to traditional cleaning.
Beware: no touch disinfection is not infection prevention salvation, keep the expected outcomes in check with reality.
