Synbio Swan eliminates biofilm at Sint-Maarten General Hospital
10/01/2023 - Eva Meerts
Sint-Maarten General Hospital in Mechelen regularly moves forward with cleaning products that are high quality, safe, sustainable and effective. In 2019, it was the first hospital to switch to probiotic cleaning. To deal with biofilm in toilets and washbasin syphons, it also launched a test phase with Greenspeed synbiotics, a combination of probiotics and prebiotics.
We spoke to Kim Geens, Cluster Manager for Facilities Services at AZ Sint-Maarten.
Bye-bye biofilm
Removing biofilm is a challenge in hospitals because biofilm is an ideal habitat for micro-organisms. Synbio is a positive technology that offers a solution.
Geens: "After taking samples in test areas, we saw that the problem of biofilm in the toilets and syphons had completely gone away. We are now going to use Synbio Swan as standard throughout the hospital. Our cleaning staff involved in the tests are positive about its use."
Probio versus Synbio
Geens: "In the hospital we opt for products that are high quality, safe, sustainable and effective. Probiotic cleaning products even have a beneficial effect on the environment. They have no hazard symbols and have proven effective in several international scientific studies. Adding prebiotics makes the benefits of probiotics happen more quickly.
Products such as Synbio Swan allows the cleaning service to ensure a clean hospital and actively reduce hospital-acquired infections."
The future of cleaning?
Data digitalisation, innovation and sustainability are pushing hospitals forward. After a successful test phase with Synbio Swan, AZ Sint-Maarten will continue to use it for periodic cleaning. Kim Geens is positive and hopeful about the way things are headed: "Further research is needed, but we can say that a basic treatment with Synbio Swan keeps microbial issues under control far better. This makes additional disinfection during standard cleaning unnecessary."
How synbiotics work
Probiotics (good bacteria in our detergents) offer many advantages: they control odours, have a deep and long-lasting effect, benefit the environment and are safe to use. When we add prebiotics to probiotics, we get synbiotics.
Prebiotics are a type of sugar that acts as an additional source of nutrition for the good bacteria on our surfaces. The result is an accelerated effect of all the benefits.
