C. diff Getting The Best Of Hospital Disinfectants

“We found no disinfectant was able to completely eliminate C. difficile embedded within biofilms, although we did note differences among disinfectants,” says Kevin Garey, chair of the College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research at the University of Houston. Overall, Clorox, Cidex OPA, and Virex were most effective at killing C. diff spores. Clorox and OPA were also effective at killing total vegetative cell growth, the cellular stage responsible for causing infections. Virex was found to be ineffective against vegetative cell growth in biofilms.