A study by Cardiff University has shown that many hospitals are reusing the cloths to clean more than one surface which leads to spread of bacteria, such as antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
Researchers say that MRSA survives on the wipe, and then contaminates everything it is touched to. The new regulations urge hospital staff to throw away wipes after cleaning just one surface.
MRSA, a type of staph bacteria, can spread via skin-to-skin contact or contact with a contaminated surface. It can lead to life-threatening infections of the bloodstream, bones or lungs if left untreated.
The researchers observed hospital workers as they used wipes to disinfect surfaces that both workers and patients would come in contact with. Researchers found that while wipes were efficient in picking up bacteria from the first surface, the wipes were unable to kill off the bacteria they picked up swiftly.
If the wipes are re-used for a subsequent cleaning, the wipe spread contamination, the BBC reported. The research was presented at the American Society of Microbiology's Annual Meeting in Boston.
The team is now calling on hospitals to ensure that the wipes are discarded away after a single use and for all staff to be given more training in how to effectively combat superbugs.
More than 300,000 patients every year pick up infections while being treated in hospital for another illness. MRSA is particularly deadly because it is resistant to antibiotics, the main drug used to combat similar infections.
