Objective: Healthcare-associated infections due to Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) are a major cause of mortality and morbidity throughout the world. The purpose of the research described here was to evaluate the possibility of using an extremely low-concentration gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2, 0.01 ppmv, 0.028 mg/m3) as a technique to reduce the risk of environmental infection by GNB. In this study we set up an exposure chamber (1 m3) and used three types of GNB, namely Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii.
Results: The extremely low-concentration gaseous ClO2 inactivated E. coli (> 2 log10 reductions, within 2 h), P. aeruginosa (> 4 log10 reductions, within 2 h) and A. baumannii (> 2 log10 reductions, within 3 h) in wet conditions on glass dishes. Treatment of moist environments with extremely low-concentration gaseous ClO2 may help to reduce the risk of environmental infection by GNB without harmful effects.
Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; Bacteria; Chlorine dioxide; Escherichia coli; Gas; Pseudomonas aeruginosa.