Disinfecting equip... MRSA?

[Lizistired]

So after I had my Dad use my extra equipment, my brother experessed an interest in addressing his apnea. He is a monster snorer whose friends wake him because he stops breathing. He has a CDL and I assumed he would be reluctant to explore it but I gave him some info on sleep stages and maybe he realizes he shouldn't need 10 hours of sleep to function.

Anyway, He and Dad have both had MRSA in the last few years so I didn't want to chance spreading that around. My brother is really paranoid about it and his wife is a clean freak anyway.
So here is what I did.
Soaked all gear, hose, tube, pillows, headgear in 1:10 bleach solution for 2-3 hours.
Rinsed and soaked all gear in vinegar/water solution for an hour.
Rinsed and soaked all gear in baking soda/water solution for an hour.
Rinsed and soaked all gear in dishwashing liquid/water for an hour.
Blew it all dry with the S9 for an hour.

Smells slightly of dish soap, but not of chlorine or vinegar.

[Julie]

Did you really soak the mask/cushion/seal in all that stuff?

I hope you haven't done any permanent damage to it, because while there is usually a manufacturer's protocol about sterilizing things, which I doubt matches yours, most of us stay far far away from vinegar, let alone bleach, which is known to damage the silicon.

Let us know if there's been any trouble as a result.

[LSAT]

I agree with Julie...You may have ruined the equipment..Next time stick with just the dishwashing detergent or baby shampoo

[chunkyfrog]

I just got my Control III disinfectant from cpap.com.
Can't imagine why it took me so long.

[howkim]

so I didn't want to chance spreading that around.

Did you check to see how long MRSA can live on a clean dry surface? Not sure, but I don't think it's "a couple of years." They may not even have it any more.

[Lizistired]

Well it seems that many of us just carry it around in our noses and I think getting infected has more to do with a compromised immune system. I know my brother is really paranoid about it, so if he wants to borrow my backup gear, I don't want to take any chances.
As far as ruining the gear, I think the worst that can happen is it might get brittle or leak. In that case, it's all extras and can be replaced.

[archangle]

Get a new hose. I just bought 3 for $15 from an ebay seller.

Most manufacturers of masks have a sterilization/sanitation process for multiple patient use. Usually, one of the allowed processes is hot water at a specified temperature for a specified time. They specify a special machine, but I've dumped stuff into a pot of hot water that I've boiled, shut off the heat and let cool down to the specified temp. I have slightly damaged a hose, but nothing else.

ResMed's guide is here: http://www.resmed.com/us/assets/html/st ... ricas.html

I'm not quite sure whether you can put the headgear in the hot water.

Don't forget to sanitize the headgear. Rubbing against the skin could easily carry MRSA.

Get some "everclear" 95% drinking alcohol. Warning, it's flammable, like it says on the label. Major league flammable. Soak everything in it. I think alcohol will kill MRSA, but check yourself. It might not be good on the headgear, but headgear can be replaced. I feel pretty sure that drinkable alcohol is not going to have problems of noxious residue once most of it evaporates.

I'm skeptical that lower concentrations of alcohol are going to kill MRSA. I've heard that some of the alcohol based hand sanitizers aren't that effective because they're too low in alcohol.

I suppose isopropyl alcohol would work, too. I've been a little afraid of it since it's not drinkable, but I think it's not really all that toxic, just that if you're dumb enough to drink it to get drunk, bad things happen.

The Control III does sound like a good idea, though. I may just send off an order. Do you folks use Control III on the headgear as well?

[deltadave]

I just got my Control III disinfectant from cpap.com.
Can't imagine why it took me so long.

Speaking of long, how "long" do you allow the object you are disinfecting to remain WET with Control III? It's Contact Time is 10 minutes.

Apply Control III Laboratory Germicide with a clean sponge, cloth or by a trigger sprayer so as to wet all surfaces thoroughly. For disinfection, surfaces must remain wet for ten minutes. Allow to air dry.

But I have bafflement.

They're selling 2 ounces of concentrate for 24 dollars. Everywhere else concentrate costs about 15 bucks for 16 ounces.

Must be that "social value" thing.

[deltadave]

However, if you increase the concentration by about 50% (and throw in some alcohol), you can apparently reduce contact time down to 2 minutes:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/midamericanrese ... 1307451864

[deltadave]

And don't even get me started on "Citrus Wipes":

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60893&p=571225&hili ... us#p571225

[avi123]

MRSA is all around us. In hospitals and in the community. Persons carry MRSA in their noses at all time (about 10,000 germs ) . When you fill a CPAP humidifier chamber with water then right there you're blowing MRSA from your nose into the chamber. So what good did you do, MRSA wise, when you cleaned the chamber. Hardly anything!

MRSA would not attack the body unless the skin is cut or pierced allowing the MRSA to enter. And then only those with damaged immune system response could be victims. Those who are susceptible or were treated for MRSA before should be taking certain antibiotic prophylactically at all time.

[RocketGirl]

I can sympathize with your brother-in-law's fears about MRSA since he's already had a bout of it. It's nasty stuff. A good option for disinfecting the equipment would be to get a UV-C light. UV-C disrupts the DNA of bacteria, viruses, and protists, and pretty much annihilates any microorganism that it reaches. In my former job, my staff used it in the lab on their goggles and other plastic lab ware. it's a fairly standard tool at this point, and the lights are now available to consumers. Verilux makes one, and there are other vendors to be found if you google "sanitizing UV-C".

UV-C will do the job, and it could be very reassuring to those with MRSA concerns.

The only thing UV-C can't do is penetrate small cracks and seams in opaque materials where light doesn't reach, so if any of the equipment is opaque, in those cases we did basic santizing with alcohol, followed by hitting the gear with the light. (Note: it is UV, so users should keep the light off your skin and not look directly at it.)

[Note: I am not affiliated with Verilux; I just happen to use a lot of their products so I know something about them ]

[chunkyfrog]

DeltaDave:
I meant how long it took me to get off the pot and order the Control III.
I had been meaning to order the stuff for some months, but being a charter member of the Procrastinators' Guild. . .
As for soaking, etc; I have timers up the wazoo; and use them for everything.
You learn when you burn cookies, potatoes, eggs, and baby bottles--with nipples!
Olfactory alarms are lousy timers.

[Paul56]

He has a CDL and I assumed he would be reluctant to explore it but I gave him some info on sleep stages and maybe he realizes he shouldn't need 10 hours of sleep to function.

That is a serious issue... is he drowsy behind the wheel?

He needs to get this addressed quickly.

[Lizistired]

No Paul, He doesn't get sleepy until he's home and horizontal. I think he runs on stress hormones all day. Our bodies just don't handle that as well as we age, plus the cummulative effect.

Thanks for all the opinions and suggestions. I'll look into the Control III and the UV light. Everything I found on disinfecting MRSA said 1:10 bleach water, at least of what was readily available. All the rest was making sure it was well rinsed and odor free.