Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T07:48:39.628Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Rapid Hospital Room Decontamination Using Ultraviolet (UV) Light with a Nanostructured UV-Reflective Wall Coating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

William A. Rutala
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Health Care, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Maria F. Gergen
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Health Care, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Brian M. Tande
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota
David J. Weber
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Health Care, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Abstract

We tested the ability of an ultraviolet C (UV-C)–reflective wall coating to reduce the time necessary to decontaminate a room using a UV-C-emitting device (Tru-D SmartUVC). The reflective wall coating provided the following time reductions for decontamination: for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, from 25 minutes 13 seconds to 5 minutes 3 seconds (P < .05), and for Clostridium difficile spores, from 43 minutes 42 seconds to minutes 24 seconds (P < .05).

Type
Concise Communication
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Carling, PC, Parry, MF, Von Beheren, SM; Healthcare Environmental Hygiene Study Group. Identifying opportunities to enhance environmental cleaning in 23 acute care hospitals. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2008;29:17.Google Scholar
2.Huang, SS, Datta, R, Platt, R. Risk of acquiring antibiotic-resistant bacteria from prior room occupants. Arch Intern Med 2006;166:19451951.Google Scholar
3.Drees, M, Snydman, DR, Schmid, CH, et al.Prior environmental contamination increases the risk of acquisition of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Clin Infect Dis 2008;46:678685.Google Scholar
4.Shaughnessy, MK, Micielli, RL, DePestal, DD, et al.Evaluation of hospital room assignment and acquisition of Clostridium difficile infection. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2011;32:201206.Google Scholar
5.Rutala, WA, Weber, DJ. Are room decontamination units needed to prevent transmission of environmental pathogens? Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2011;32:743747.Google Scholar
6.Owens, MU, Deal, DR, Shoemaker, MO, Knudson, GB, Meszaros, JE, Deal, JL. High-dose ultraviolet C light inactivates spores of Bacillus subtilis var. niger and Bacillus anthracis Sterne on non-reflective surfaces. Appl Biosaf 2005;10:240247.Google Scholar
7.Beloian, A. Disinfectants. In: Cunniff, P, ed. Official Methods of Analysis of the AOAC International. 16th ed. Gaithersburg, MD: AOAC International, 1999:61–6-18.Google Scholar
8.Rutala, WA, Gergen, MF, Weber, DJ. Room decontamination with UV radiation. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2010;31:10251029.Google Scholar
9.Boyce, JM, Havill, NL, Moore, BA. Terminal decontamination of patient rooms using an automated mobile UV light unit. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2011;32:737742.Google Scholar
10.Nerandzic, MM, Cadnum, JL, Pultz, MJ, Donskey, CJ. Evaluation of an automated ultraviolet radiation device for decontamination of Clostridium difficile and other healthcare-associated pathogens in hospital rooms. BMC Infect Dis 2010;10:197.Google Scholar