Assessment of the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Chlorine Dioxide as Disinfectant in Veterinary Operating Rooms

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the efficacy of Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) as a disinfectant in veterinary operating rooms. Four surfaces (surgical table, drain of surgical table, instrument table and wall) inside the operating room of four randomly selected veterinary facilities located within the Greater Manila Area were screened for the bacterial count before and after one hour of disinfection with a ClO2-based disinfectant and a Sodium hypochlorite-based (NaClO) disinfectant. The average bacterial load before the application of treatments to the different surfaces of the operating room of the four facilities included in this study was 70.65cfu/mL. The T-test revealed that the mean log10 reduction of ClO2 was significantly higher compared to the mean log10 reduction of NaClO. This clearly demonstrates that ClO2 was more potent than NaClO in decreasing bacterial colonies on the surfaces of veterinary operating rooms. Results of this study also suggest that the type of surface material affects the disinfection rate and should always be considered in a disinfection protocol. Based on the bacterial characterization of isolated bacteria, a low concentration of ClO2 would be sufficient to produce an immediate effect against gram-negative bacteria and gram-positive in the absence of organic materials.