Selected Publications
Summary: The efficacy of any disinfection measures should be validated in a stepwise fashion from laboratory assessment to a controlled multiple-hospital evaluation over a prolonged period of time. In this review, we evaluate systemic disinfection methods (copper-silver ionization, chlorine dioxide, monochloramine, ultraviolet light, and hyperchlorination), a focal disinfection method (point-of-use filtration), and short-term disinfection methods in outbreak situations (superheat-and-flush with or without hyperchlorination.) The infection control practitioner should take the lead in selection of the disinfection system and the vendor. Formal appraisals by other hospitals with experience of the system under consideration is indicated. Routine performance of surveillance cultures of drinking water to detect Legionella and monitoring of disinfectant concentrations are necessary to ensure long-term efficacy.
Evaluation of A New Monochloramine Generation System for Controlling Legionella in Building Hot Water Systems. Scott Duda, MS; Sheena Kandiah, MD, PhD; Janet E. Stout, PhD; et al. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology vol. 35, no. 11 (November 2014) pp. 1356-1363.
Biological control in cooling water systems using nonchemical treatment devices. Scott Duda, Janet E. Stout & Radisav Vidic HVAC&R Research, 17(5): 872–890, 2011.
Biological Control in Cooling Water Systems Using Nonchemical Treatment Devices published in HVAC&R Research is the first study to evaluate the efficacy of nonchemical treatment devices for controlling microbiological activity (planktonic and sessile) within a pilot scale model cooling tower. Funded by ASHRAE.
Shift in the Microbial Ecology of a Hospital Hot Water System following the Introduction of an On-Site Monochloramine Disinfection System (Julianne L. Baron, Amit Vikram, Scott Duda, Janet E. Stout, Kyle Bibby. PLOS ONE Journal. July 2014.Vol 9 Issue 7.)