The role of the environment, particularly of high-touch surfaces in the patient&#x;s room (e.g., bedrails, over-bed tables, and call-buttons) and reusable care equipment that is moved between rooms, has been demonstrated to be fundamental in the transmission of healthcare-related infections. Together with standard precautions and the application of good practices in invasive procedures, environmental cleaning and disinfection represents one of the three pillars of infection risk prevention in healthcare settings.

Improving the cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces is one of the core components of reducing healthcare-associated infections. The effectiveness of an enhanced protocol applying UV-C irradiation for terminal room disinfection between two successive patients was evaluated. Twenty high-touch surfaces in different critical areas were sampled according to ISO -, both immediately pre- and post-cleaning and disinfection standard operating protocol (SOP) and after UV-C disinfection ( sampling sites in each condition, in total). Dosimeters were applied at the sites to assess the dose emitted. A total of .% (/) of the sampling sites tested after SOP were positive, whereas only .% (/) were positive after UV-C. According to the national hygienic standards for health-care setting, .% (/) resulted in being non-compliant after SOP and only .% (/) were non-compliant after UV-C disinfection. Operation theaters was the setting that resulted in being less compliant with the standard limit (&#x; colony-forming unit/ cm

These organisms belong to a group of carbapenem-resistant, gram-negative bacteria of national and international concern because of their implication as an emerging cause of severe healthcare-associated infections. In , the World Health Organization published the first global guidelines for the prevention and control of CRE-CRAB-CRPsA in healthcare facilities, which include environmental cleaning and disinfection as a key recommendation.

In settings where hospital cleaning services are assigned to private sector contractors, the use of new no-touch technologies could be considered in outsourcing contracts as an improvement action in the event of non-compliance in the cleaning service. The dedicated personnel should be adequately trained not only on the cleaning protocols to be adopted but also on infection control issues, underlining the key role of cleaning procedures.

Monitoring data feedback to cleaning staff through periodic audits can be a valid aid for improving cleaning and disinfection procedures and adherence to protocols. This strategy was adopted in our study and, thanks to the collaboration between the infection control team and the outsourced cleaning company, it was possible to identify the critical issues and take corrective actions. To this end, environmental monitoring is essential for process verification.