Diminishment of Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales from Sink Outlets Using a Steam Cleaner

In 2016, Tosei General Hospital, a tertiary emergency medical facility with 633 beds in Japan, experienced a large nosocomial outbreak of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) that had spread to numerous sink outlets. Based on our experience with using steam cleaners to suppress CPE on environmental surfaces, we report the efficacy of steam cleaners in the disinfection of sink outlets. Steam cleaners were used to disinfect 22 target areas. CPE disappeared in 90.9% of the sink outlets within the first two months after disinfection, and, after 12 months, 54.5% of the sink outlets remained negative throughout the remainder of the study period. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of using steam cleaners to disinfect sink outlets contaminated with CPE.