Hospital environments can be a source for the acquisition and spread of pathogens.1"10 Pathogens are inherently present in the surgical setting, and several significant health care-associated pathogens can be transferred from patient to patient, from health care worker to patient or vice versa, and from surfaces to patients or health care workers and cause surgical site infections (SSIs). These pathogens (eg, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA], S aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Acinetobacter species) may survive on environmental surfaces for weeks or months.2'3 In fact, Clostridium difficile spores can persist on environmental surfaces for up to five months.
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