Despite dramatic decreases in the incidence of healthcareassociated
infections (HAIs) in recent years, a large prevalence
study of US acute-care hospitals estimated that ~722,000 HAIs
occurred in 2011, resulting in ~75,000 deaths.1 Several
decades ago, Weinstein2 theorized that pathogens causing HAIs
in the intensive care unit (ICU) had several sources: the patients’
endogenous flora (40%–60%), cross-infection via the hands of
healthcare personnel (HCP; 20%–40%), antibiotic-driven
changes in flora (20%–25%), and other causes (including
contamination of the environment; 20%).2 More recently,
accumulating scientific evidence has indicated that contamination
of environmental surfaces in hospital rooms plays an
important role in the transmission of several key healthcareassociated
pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp
(VRE), Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter spp, and noroviru
