Effectiveness of a combined UV-C and ozone treatment in reducing healthcare-associated infections in hospital facilities.

Autor: Sottani C; Environmental Research Center, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy. Electronic address: cristina.sottani@icsmaugeri.it., Favorido Barraza G; Environmental Research Center, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy., Frigerio F; Environmental Research Center, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy., Corica G; Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Lumezzane, Brescia, Italy., Robustelli Della Cuna FS; Environmental Research Center, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy., Cottica D; Environmental Research Center, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy., Grignani E; Environmental Research Center, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Journal of hospital infection [J Hosp Infect] 2023 Sep; Vol. 139, pp. 207-216. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jul 20.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2023.06.029
Abstrakt: Background: Hospital-acquired infections pose an ongoing threat to patient safety due to the presence of multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and other pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile which are dependent on thorough and effective cleaning and disinfection by personnel.
Methods: This study evaluated the influence of UV-C air treatment: the air in the room was sanitized by UV-C and redirected into the room. In addition, ozone was released into the room to treat actual surfaces in low-risk areas such as hospital gyms, and high- to medium-risk areas such as hospital rooms. To this aim, a portable device designed for treating the environment air was tested against nine bacterial strains including Aspergillus spp. and Clostridioides spp.
Results: The use of UV-C air treatment during daily operations and ozone treatment achieved at least a 2-log 10 pathogen reduction except for Clostridioides spp.
Conclusion: Effective prevention of C. difficile normally requires the use of combined approaches that include chemical compounds and disinfection agents whose toxicity can be harmful not only to patients but also to healthcare personnel. Thus, the proposed no-touch device may be evaluated in future research to assess the needed requirements for its possible and full implementation in hospitals.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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