Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control-Online Journal

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Evaluation of Chlorous Acid Water as a Sanitizing Reagent in Hospital Environments

Yukiko NOGAMI¹⁾, Tomoko MATSUDA¹⁾, Tamiko NAGAO²⁾, Harunobu SHIMA³⁾, Hitoshi YAMAOKA⁴⁾, Hisataka GODA⁴⁾ and Tomomi KUWAHARA⁵⁾
¹⁾Infection Control Committee, Tokushima Health COOP Tokushima Kensei Hospital, ²⁾Faculty of Nursing, Shikoku University, ³⁾Tokushima Bunri University Human Life Sciences, ⁴⁾Honbu Sankei Co. Ltd., ⁵⁾Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University

Chlorous acid water was recently approved as a food additive in Japan and chlorous acid water-based sanitizers are commercially available. Chlorous acid water is relatively stable under protein-rich conditions and causes little irritation to the human mucosa or skin. In this study, we evaluated the potential of chlorous acid water-based sanitizers for sanitation in hospital environments. The safety and convenience of this sanitizer for healthcare staff were assessed using a questionnaire survey. In comparing chlorous acid water-based sanitizers with those containing quaternary ammonium salt, the number of staff complaints about roughened skin on the hands or hand eczema deceased significantly, whereas the rate of hospital staff reporting eye and nose irritation was similar. There was no significant change in the rate of sanitizer preparation time and workload for sanitizer preparation except for the use of safety goggles. The incidence of both human norovirus gastroenteritis and Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhea decreased after the test use of chlorous acid water for hospital sanitation. Although the cost for personal protective equipment decreased periodically, accompanied by a reduction of these hospital infections, the total cost for infection control increased by nearly 220,000 JPY per year because chlorous acid water-based sanitizers are expensive. Together, these results indicate that chlorous acid water is a safe and effective sanitizer that can be used for routine hospital sanitation applications. However, its cost effectiveness should be taken into account.

Key words：chlorous acid water, Environmental sanitation, human norovirus, Clostridioides difficile, safety

e-mail: nogami＠kenkou-seikyou.com

Received: May 31, 2018
Accepted: November 20, 2018

34 (2)：106─114,2019