Thousands of people die every year in hospitals due to the infected hospital floors and textile- and plastic fabrics.
In the 1950s-1970s Lysol was used that was highly disinfectant. In spite of the newer brands, Lysol is still the best and cleans everything. The smell of Lysol is pugnant, but I think that its disinfection product is better to humanity in spite of that well-known smell.
I think that this is a very reasonable suggestion. Some old and forgotten things can still be very effective for our needs.
Thanks Igor, I think that too much money is involved paying for other antiseptic products in spite of that some individuals higher up know very well that Lysol does the job better than any new stuff. I thought that it was worthwhile to remind us of Lysol which did a good job not only for floors but also fabrics that cannot be done with the new products on the market.
I think most hospitals want to do what is best and safest, but at the same time, they are under a great deal of pressure to do the most with the least possible resources. So while the older, simpler things may help in terms of cost, it is still necessary to get staff to do the things that are necessary. For example, doctors should wash their hands after every visit to a patient. They have known this for a century, and yet they only do so about 60% of the time. I am in favour of checklists-- just as pilots use before take-off, which is one reason flying is safe. When applied to surgical procedures, the number of errors falls dramatically. There is no reason that checklists can't be applied to the mundane procedures of cleaning and disinfecting.
Dear Dag, since you brought up the item of , and I quote " doctors should wash their hands after every visit to a patient" I would like to add in daily hygiëne in general , nobody should dry his hands on a wet towel. This is the place where microbes grow and multiply at will because the towel is wet--what they need for growing-- and usually the towel hangs in a toilet which has its own set of microbes.
Wet towels should be hang outside in the sun which kills most if not all microbes by UV rays.
Jan,
there are many efficient sterilizing agents that can be applied in medicine without harmful effects of old LYSOL formulation (probably you mean Chlorobenzylphenol or Phenylphenol). Different Lysol products contain different active ingredients. The problem is in "daily hygiëne" in general as you quoted. Specific smell of LYSOL was the best indicator that the treatment has occurred.
Alex, you are right that there are "many efficient sterilizing agents" but IF they are used on hospital floors and medical team cloths and bedware, why are they not working as the statistics show? At least, in the case of Lysol, the smell was indeed a sign that the hospital was cleaned. There are no signs today that point to a better situation in spite of the 'many efficient sterilizing agents'; and that is a fact.
Jan, phenolic compounds in Lysol are more persistent on the treated surface comparing to new sterilizers, but more toxic and irritating for humans. One of hundred patients or medical staff can have serious health problems linked to high sensitivity to phenols, and it was the reason to move from phenolics to less harmful but unstable agents such as hydrogen peroxide.
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