Assessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leone

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dc.contributor.authorYoukee, Danielen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBrown, Colin Sen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorLilburn, Paulen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorShetty, Nandinien_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBrooks, Timen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSimpson, Andrewen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBentley, Neilen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorLado, Martaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKamara, Thaim Ben_ZA
dc.contributor.authorWalker, Naomi Fen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Oliveren_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-10T14:46:30Z
dc.date.available2016-02-10T14:46:30Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractEvidence to inform decontamination practices at Ebola holding units (EHUs) and treatment centres is lacking. We conducted an audit of decontamination procedures inside Connaught Hospital EHU in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by assessing environmental swab specimens for evidence of contamination with Ebola virus by RT-PCR. Swabs were collected following discharge of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patients before and after routine decontamination. Prior to decontamination, Ebola virus RNA was detected within a limited area at all bedside sites tested, but not at any sites distant to the bedside. Following decontamination, few areas contained detectable Ebola virus RNA. In areas beneath the bed there was evidence of transfer of Ebola virus material during cleaning. Retraining of cleaning staff reduced evidence of environmental contamination after decontamination. Current decontamination procedures appear to be effective in eradicating persistence of viral RNA. This study supports the use of viral swabs to assess Ebola viral contamination within the clinical setting. We recommend that regular refresher training of cleaning staff and audit of environmental contamination become standard practice at all Ebola care facilities during EVD outbreaks.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationYoukee, D., Brown, C. S., Lilburn, P., Shetty, N., Brooks, T., Simpson, A., ... Johnson, O. (2015). Assessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leone. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16949en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationYoukee, Daniel, Colin S Brown, Paul Lilburn, Nandini Shetty, Tim Brooks, Andrew Simpson, Neil Bentley, et al "Assessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leone." <i>PLoS One</i> (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16949en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationYoukee, D., Brown, C. S., Lilburn, P., Shetty, N., Brooks, T., Simpson, A., ... & Johnson, O. (2015). Assessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leone. PloS one, 10(12), e0145167. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0145167en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Youkee, Daniel AU - Brown, Colin S AU - Lilburn, Paul AU - Shetty, Nandini AU - Brooks, Tim AU - Simpson, Andrew AU - Bentley, Neil AU - Lado, Marta AU - Kamara, Thaim B AU - Walker, Naomi F AU - Johnson, Oliver AB - Evidence to inform decontamination practices at Ebola holding units (EHUs) and treatment centres is lacking. We conducted an audit of decontamination procedures inside Connaught Hospital EHU in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by assessing environmental swab specimens for evidence of contamination with Ebola virus by RT-PCR. Swabs were collected following discharge of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patients before and after routine decontamination. Prior to decontamination, Ebola virus RNA was detected within a limited area at all bedside sites tested, but not at any sites distant to the bedside. Following decontamination, few areas contained detectable Ebola virus RNA. In areas beneath the bed there was evidence of transfer of Ebola virus material during cleaning. Retraining of cleaning staff reduced evidence of environmental contamination after decontamination. Current decontamination procedures appear to be effective in eradicating persistence of viral RNA. This study supports the use of viral swabs to assess Ebola viral contamination within the clinical setting. We recommend that regular refresher training of cleaning staff and audit of environmental contamination become standard practice at all Ebola care facilities during EVD outbreaks. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0145167 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Assessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leone TI - Assessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leone UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16949 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0145167en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/16949
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationYoukee D, Brown CS, Lilburn P, Shetty N, Brooks T, Simpson A, et al. Assessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leone. PLoS One. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16949.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentInstitute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2015 Youkee et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherDecontaminationen_ZA
dc.subject.otherEbola virusen_ZA
dc.subject.otherNosocomial infectionsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherReverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactionen_ZA
dc.subject.otherEbola hemorrhagic feveren_ZA
dc.subject.otherBody fluidsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherRNA virusesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth care facilitiesen_ZA
dc.titleAssessment of environmental contamination and environmental decontamination practices within an Ebola holding unit, Freetown, Sierra Leoneen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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