Evaluation of a shoe sole UVC device to reduce pathogen colonization on floors, surfaces and patients

Rashid, Tasnuva; Poblete, Kelley; Amadio, Jonathan; Hasan, Irtiza; Begum, Khurshida; Alam, Mohammad Jahangir; Garey, Kevin W.

doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2017.10.011

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Our research group had previously demonstrated that shoe sole swabs collected in the healthcare and community setting in Houston, Texas were frequently contaminated with C. difficile [6,9]. Procedure for shoe sampling are non-technical, quick, and non-obtrusive and therefore shoe sole sampling could provide a method to perform worldwide surveillance of targeted pathogens [15,16]. However, the applicability of this method is still at the evaluation stage and large scale studies with higher sample size need to be carried out in different parts of the world.…”

Section: Notementioning

confidence: 99%

Clostridioides difficile ribotypes isolated from domestic environment and from patients in Bangladesh

et al. 2019

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Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is an emerging but often understudied infectious disease in developing countries. This study was aimed to isolate and characterize C. difficile from shoe sole swabs and diarrheal patient's stool samples in Bangladesh. We collected 94 shoe sole swabs samples from urban communities in Dhaka and 208 diarrheal stool samples from hospitalized patients over a period of 4 months. Samples were incubated anaerobically for C. difficile growth, confirmed toxigenic, and PCR-ribotyped. Eleven of 94 (11.7%) shoe sole swabs and 4 of 208 (1.9%) stool samples were culture positive of which 9 shoe sole isolates were toxigenic. Six PCR ribotypes from the 9 toxigenic isolates were identified with ribotype F014-020 being the most common (n = 4; 44%). The recently identified ribotype 106 strain was also identified. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C. difficile culture, isolation and characterization from environmental sources in Bangladesh.

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Section: Notementioning

confidence: 99%

Clostridioides difficile ribotypes isolated from domestic environment and from patients in Bangladesh

et al. 2019

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“…In the present study, the Sanitech UVC shoe sole decontaminator was tested for its ability to disinfect different pathogens, demonstrating that it was effective in killing ATCCs bacterial strains (S. aureus ATCC 6538, P. aeruginosa ATCC 15442, S. enterica ATCC 10708, E. coli ATCC 25922, A. baumannii ATCC 19606, E. faecalis ATCC 29212) and IRAS-associated ESKAPE-E multidrug (S. aureus (MRSA), P. aeruginosa (XDR), A. baumannii (PDR) ), K. pneumoniae (KPC+). A similar study that used a UVC device specifically designed to decontaminate shoe soles was tested for its ability to decrease the number of CFUs in standardized rubber-soled shoe soles and subsequent transmission to floors or a simulated hospital room [30]. n this study, relevant pathogens, standardized procedures for inoculation of shoe soles, a variety of types of floors, and a standardized script to mimic hospital conditions were used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Certainly, an effective disinfection strategy for shoe soles is urgently needed. Therefore, an innovative future approach could be using an ultraviolet C (UVC) device to decrease the contamination of shoe soles [30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness Evaluation of a UVC-Photoinactivator against Selected ESKAPE-E Pathogens

Rangel¹,

Cabral²,

Lechuga³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) worldwide includes infections by ESKAPE-E pathogens. Environmental surfaces and fomites are important components in HAI transmission dynamics, and shoe soles are vectors of HAI. Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection is an effective method to inactivate pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, we investigated whether the SANITECH UVC shoe sole decontaminator equipment that provides germicidal UVC radiation could effectively reduce this risk of different pathogens. Six standard strains and four clinical MDR strains in liquid and solid medium were exposed to a UVC System at specific concentrations at other times. Bacterial inac-tivation (growth and cultivability) was investigated using colony counts and resazurin as meta-bolic indicators. SEM was performed to assess the membrane damage. Statistically significant reduction in cell viability for all ATCCs strains occurred after 10 sec of exposure to the UVC sys-tem, except for S enterica, which only occurred at 20 sec. The cell viability of P. aeruginosa (90.9%), E. faecalis and A. baumannii (85.3%), S. enterica (82.9%), E. coli (79.2%) and S. aureus (71.9%) was re-duced considerably at 20 sec. In colony count, after 12 sec of UVC exposure, all ATCC strains showed a 100% reduction in CFU counts, except for A. baumannii, which reduced 97.7%. A sub-stantial reduction of colonies above 3 log10 was observed at 12 and 20 sec in all bacterial strains tested, except for A. baumannii ATCC 19606 (12 sec). The exposure of ATCCs bacterial strains to the UVC system for only 2 sec was able to reduce 100% in the CFU count in all ATCCs strains, S. au-reus, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, A. baumannii, E. faecalis, except the S. enterica strain which had a statis-tically significant reduction of 99.7%. In ATCC strains, there was a substantial decrease in colonies after 4 sec (sec) of exposure to the UVC system, with a reduction ranging from 3.78-4.15 log10 CFU/mL. This reduction was observed in MDR/ESKAPE-E strains within 10 sec, showing that UVC could eliminate above 3.84 log10 CFU/mL. SEM showed a reduction of pili-like appendages after UVC treatment in all strains except for E. coli (ATCC 25922). The Sanitech UVC shoe sole decontaminator equipment from Astech Co. effectively killed in vitro a series of ATCCs and MDR/ESKAPE-E bacteria of sanitary interest, commonly found in the hospital environment.

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“…For example, it has been suggested that the use of a UV-C device for shoe decontamination might reduce transfer of pathogens into rooms on shoes. 25 Improved cleaning and disinfection protocols for devices such as wheelchairs have also been suggested as a means to limit the transfer of pathogens by contaminated wheels. 26 In conclusion, our findings suggest that healthcare facility floors may be an underappreciated source of dissemination of healthcareassociated pathogens.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing and route of contamination of hospitalized patient rooms with healthcare-associated pathogens

Redmond

Pearlmutter

Ng-Wong

et al. 2021

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol.

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Objective: To investigate the timing and routes of contamination of the rooms of patients newly admitted to the hospital. Design: Observational cohort study and simulations of pathogen transfer. Setting: A Veterans’ Affairs hospital. Participants: Patients newly admitted to the hospital with no known carriage of healthcare-associated pathogens. Methods: Interactions between the participants and personnel or portable equipment were observed, and cultures of high-touch surfaces, floors, bedding, and patients’ socks and skin were collected for up to 4 days. Cultures were processed for Clostridioides difﬁcile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Simulations were conducted with bacteriophage MS2 to assess plausibility of transfer from contaminated floors to high-touch surfaces and to assess the effectiveness of wearing slippers in reducing transfer. Results: Environmental cultures became positive for at least 1 pathogen in 10 (59%) of the 17 rooms, with cultures positive for MRSA, C. difficile, and VRE in the rooms of 10 (59%), 2 (12%), and 2 (12%) participants, respectively. For all 14 instances of pathogen detection, the initial site of recovery was the floor followed in a subset of patients by detection on sock bottoms, bedding, and high-touch surfaces. In simulations, wearing slippers over hospital socks dramatically reduced transfer of bacteriophage MS2 from the floor to hands and to high-touch surfaces. Conclusions: Floors may be an underappreciated source of pathogen dissemination in healthcare facilities. Simple interventions such as having patients wear slippers could potentially reduce the risk for transfer of pathogens from floors to hands and high-touch surfaces.

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Evaluation of a shoe sole UVC device to reduce pathogen colonization on floors, surfaces and patients

Cited by 22 publications

References 17 publications

Clostridioides difficile ribotypes isolated from domestic environment and from patients in Bangladesh

Clostridioides difficile ribotypes isolated from domestic environment and from patients in Bangladesh

Effectiveness Evaluation of a UVC-Photoinactivator against Selected ESKAPE-E Pathogens

Timing and route of contamination of hospitalized patient rooms with healthcare-associated pathogens

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