Optimizing Patient-Zone Environmental Hygiene: The Way Forward.

This review highlights recent advances in understanding the role of environmental surfaces in healthcare-associated infections, focusing on pathogens like Clostridioides difficile, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. It emphasizes the importance of effective disinfection, including sporicidal cleaning and environmental monitoring, in reducing transmission. Despite progress, challenges remain in implementing sustainable, science-based infection control practices due to resource limitations and variability in hospital settings. The review advocates for integrating environmental hygiene and hand hygiene efforts, advancing implementation science, and leveraging genomic epidemiology to develop targeted mitigation strategies.