Air dispersed essential oils combined with standard sanitization procedures for environmental microbiota control in nosocomial hospitalization rooms. (April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gelmini, Fabrizio; Belotti, Luciano; Vecchi, Sara; Testa, Cristian; Beretta, Giangiacomo
• Is Part Of: Complementary therapies in medicine. Volume 25(2016)
• Page Start: 113
• Page End: 119
• Publication Date: 2016-04
• Subjects: Essential oils -- Antimicrobial -- Disinfection -- Hospital -- Environmental; Alternative medicine -- Periodicals; Complementary Therapies -- Periodicals; Médecines parallèles -- Périodiques; Thérapeutique -- Périodiques; Alternative medicine; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 615.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2016.02.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0965-2299

Abstract

Highlights: Vaporized essential oils in combination with standard sanitization procedures. The combination of treatments is effective in lowering microbial contamination. Treatments combination reduced drugs consumption. Abstract: Objective: Environmental bacterial contaminant microorganisms are an ongoing problem in hospitals. Essential oil vapours (EO) may help reducing this type of contamination. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of nebulized selected essential oils (EO) in reducing the microbial contamination in residential health care house rooms. Design: The study was carried out in a two-story 112-bed tertiary care structure (approximately 1060 m 2 ). Contamination in rooms and corridors was monitored for a total of n = 5 months, including a starting baseline sampling and one end-study point, and without combined treatment (standard sanitization alone). Contact slides were collected for microbiological analysis. Results: Reductions in both bacterial and fungal contamination were observed between rooms cleaned using standard sanitization alone or in combination with essential oils nebulization (average 90% decrease for total count, P < 0.01; 90% for yeasts and molds, P < 0.05). Decreases of antibiotic (70%), mucolytic (100%), bronchodilators (100%), and steroidal (67%) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (33%) prescriptions were observed, with no adverse effects on patients. Conclusions: The selected EO composition is effective in reducing both the environmental microbial contamination and pharmaceutical drugs consumption in a nosocomial health care house. This study demonstrates that aerial EO diffusion combined with standard sanitization procedures, has great potential to reduce the microbial contamination in critical hospital environments such as hospitalization rooms.