Objectives The Filtered Far UVC handheld disinfection device is a small portable device that emits far UVC at 222nm. The objective of this study was to evaluate the devices ability to kill microbial bioburden on hospital surfaces and compare it to manual cleaning using germicidal sodium hypochlorite wipes. Methods A total of 344 surfaces (86 observations per group) were sampled with 2 pairs of samples per surface a pre and a post sodium hypochlorite sample, and a pre and a post FFUV sample. The results were analyzed via a Bayesian multi level model that account for the correlation between sample pairs and within surfaces. Additionally, the bacterial flora recovered was identified. Results The estimated mean colony counts for the sodium hypochlorite control and treatment groups were 20.5 (11.7 to 36.0) and 0.1 (0.0 to 0.2) colony forming units (CFUs) respectively. The FFUV control and treatment groups had mean colony counts of 22.2 (12.5 to 40.1) and 4.1 (2.3 to 7.2) CFUs. The sodium hypochlorite samples had an estimated 99.4% (99.0% to 99.7%) reduction in colony counts, while those from the FFUV group an estimated 81.4% (76.2% to 85.7%) reduction. Conclusions The findings from this study suggest the FFUV handheld device effectively reduced microbial bioburden on real world hospital surfaces; however, a manual clean using sodium hypochlorite was more effective in reducing bioburden. Several healthcare associated infections causing pathogens (gram positive and negative bacteria) were retrieved from the surfaces indicating a potential for onward transmission.

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