Good news landed from the CDC on July 15, 2026: new national survey data show that healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in US hospitals have dropped meaningfully since 2015. On any given day in 2023, about 1 in 38 hospitalized patients had at least one HAI, down from 1 in 31 in 2015. Central line infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and C. difficile cases all declined at hospitals nationwide, and the findings were significant enough to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
It’s a genuine win for infection prevention teams. But buried in the same report is a number that deserves just as much attention: an estimated 518,000 HAIs still occurred in US hospitals in 2023, and 61% of them were not associated with any medical device or procedure at all.
The Gap Standard Cleaning Protocols Can’t Close
If most infections aren’t coming from catheters or ventilators, where are they coming from? Increasingly, infection control research points to the built environment itself — door handles, bed rails, light switches, IV poles, and waiting room furniture that get cleaned on a schedule but recontaminate within hours. A cleaning crew can disinfect a surface at 8am; by noon it has been touched dozens of times.
This is precisely the gap that has driven hospitals and hospitality operators alike toward long-lasting surface technologies that work between cleanings, not instead of them.
Where a Permanent Antimicrobial Coating Fits In
VireXbuster is built around a hybrid formulation with a very wide spectrum of activity against viruses, bacteria, fungi, mold, and mildew. It is important to be precise about what that means: VireXbuster is not a disinfectant, and it is not a replacement for terminal cleaning or standard infection-prevention protocols. In the US, this product category is classified by the EPA as a Supplemental Residual Antimicrobial Product (SRAP) — a distinct class designed to work alongside routine disinfection, providing continuous protection on treated surfaces between cleanings rather than an instant kill claim at time of application.
VireXbuster is BAuA approved (the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), Fraunhofer tested, QualityLabs certified as antimicrobial, and Dermatest certified “Excellent” for dermatological safety — a certification profile that matters in patient-facing environments where staff and visitors are in constant contact with treated surfaces.
Three formats cover most of the surfaces a facility manager actually has to worry about:
- VireXbuster Spray — an antimicrobial coating applied to existing surfaces (metal fixtures, door hardware, hard and soft substrates), giving up to 12 months of protection per application. This is the natural fit for retrofitting high-touch points in hospitals, clinics, transport, and public buildings without any renovation.
- VireXbuster Wall — a waterborne antimicrobial paint for walls and ceilings (not floors), suited to patient rooms, waiting areas, and offices where a routine repaint can double as a long-term hygiene upgrade.
- VireXbuster 4Bulk — an additive blended directly into plastic pellets during extrusion or injection molding, stable to 300°C, giving manufactured components and polymer floors years of embedded protection built in at the manufacturing stage rather than applied afterward.
What This Means for Facility Managers
The CDC’s own language is telling: despite the improvement, more needs to be done, and surgical site infections and pneumonia rates barely moved. For facilities that have already tightened hand hygiene compliance, disinfection cadence, and antibiotic stewardship, the next lever is often the surface itself — extending protection into the hours between cleanings rather than adding more cleaning cycles.
That’s a conversation worth having with your infection prevention committee before flu season and the next high-occupancy period. You can review the full VireXbuster product range at virexbuster.de/shop.
FAQ
Is VireXbuster a disinfectant?
No. VireXbuster is not classified as a disinfectant. In the US, the EPA places this category of product in a separate class called Supplemental Residual Antimicrobial Products (SRAP), intended to complement — not replace — standard disinfection protocols.
What is VireXbuster actually made of?
VireXbuster uses a hybrid formulation with a very wide spectrum of activity against viruses, bacteria, fungi, mold, and mildew. The exact composition is proprietary.
Which VireXbuster product is right for a hospital or clinic?
Most facilities combine VireXbuster Spray for existing high-touch surfaces and hardware with VireXbuster Wall for patient rooms and corridors. VireXbuster 4Bulk is used further upstream, by manufacturers building antimicrobial protection into plastic components and polymer flooring.
VireXbuster is a product of DaXem GmbH, Eschborn, Germany.
