The hidden threat of surface contamination

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE (AMR) remains one of the greatest global health threats of our time. According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic-resistant infections are directly responsible for an estimated 1.27million deaths globally every year, and data from the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project forecasts 39 million deaths between 2025 and 2050 if decisive action isn't taken.

In November 2025, the WHO called for coordinated action to ‘Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future.’ during World AMR Awareness Week, an annual global campaign led by the World Health Organization to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance and promote best practices.
 
As governments focus on reducing antibiotic misuse, Hydrachem, a leader in surface disinfection and water purification for over 50 years, is highlighting the critical role contaminated surfaces play in enabling the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections.
 
Superbugs such as MRSA, C. difficile and drug-resistant E. coli can remain active for days - even months - on surfaces, fuelling outbreaks and reinfection despite strong clinical protocols. Hydrachem warns that without robust environmental hygiene, healthcare systems risk losing ground in the battle against AMR.
 

The fight against antimicrobial resistance
 
The fight against AMR is a fight to break the chain of infection. If we sterilise the environment effectively, we eliminate the places where these pathogens hide, preventing their transmission to vulnerable patients. Preventing reinfection starts with consistent, evidence-based disinfection that stops pathogens in their tracks.”
 
As healthcare services face winter pressures and rising cases of drug-resistant infections, Hydrachem is urging national and healthcare leaders to take a wider view of infection control, recognising environmental hygiene as an important AMR prevention strategy.
 
Hydrachem’s expertise extends across 60 countries, supplying disinfection solutions trusted by hospitals, humanitarian organisations and the NHS. The company’s BIOSPOT surface disinfection system represents a new generation of infection control technology, designed to eliminate multiple germs, including C. difficile spores and MRSA, on surfaces frequently linked to cross-contamination.
 

Surface disinfection

Surface disinfection isn’t glamorous, but it is fundamental and the unsung hero of infection control,” Nicolas Barbieri emphasised. “It's not enough to have the right antibiotics if we're constantly reintroducing patients to pathogens we're trying to eliminate. Every surface we properly disinfect is one less opportunity for resistant bacteria to spread – it’s about creating an environment where antibiotics can actually work.”
 
Healthcare facilities need to ask themselves if they are doing everything possible to break the chain of infection. With what we know about AMR, doing everything means looking beyond issuing prescriptions to the surfaces that surround patients every single day.
 

Nicolas Barbieri is chief commercial officer at Hydrachem

For more information, visit https://hydrachem.com/