Implementation of an Environmental Cleaning Protocol in Hospital Critical Areas Using a UV-C Disinfection Robot

Abstract

Improving the cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces is one of the core components of reducing healthcare-associated infections. The effectiveness of an enhanced protocol applying UV-C irradiation for terminal room disinfection between two successive patients was evaluated. Twenty high-touch surfaces in different critical areas were sampled according to ISO 14698-1, both immediately pre- and post-cleaning and disinfection standard operating protocol (SOP) and after UV-C disinfection (160 sampling sites in each condition, 480 in total). Dosimeters were applied at the sites to assess the dose emitted. A total of 64.3% (103/160) of the sampling sites tested after SOP were positive, whereas only 17.5% (28/160) were positive after UV-C. According to the national hygienic standards for health-care setting, 9.3% (15/160) resulted in being non-compliant after SOP and only 1.2% (2/160) were non-compliant after UV-C disinfection. Operation theaters was the setting that resulted in being less compliant with the standard limit (≤15 colony-forming unit/24 cm2) after SOP (12%, 14/120 sampling sites) and where the UV-C treatment showed the highest effectiveness (1.6%, 2/120). The addition of UV-C disinfection to the standard cleaning and disinfection procedure had effective results in reducing hygiene failures.

Shedding light on the problem: Influence of the radiator power, source-sample distance, and exposure time on the performance of UV-C lamps in laboratory and real-world conditions

“…However, the authors did not perform microbiological tests, and the effectiveness of UV-C disinfection was demonstrated based on literature doses of UV-C radiation necessary to inactivate microorganisms. Presented in this paper and other [ 12 , 27 ] research has shown that the biocidal efficiency of UV-C radiation is much lower under real conditions. The explanation of the above-described results of our research and those quoted from the literature show lower effectiveness of UV-C disinfection in practice, which may be explained by the defense mechanisms helping bacteria survive.…”

Characterization of class 1 integrons in metallo-β-lactamase-producing Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from hospital environment

“…The hygiene of the hospital environment is multi-factorial and complex and depends on various variables, including surface type, imprecise disinfectant contact time, excessive dilution of disinfectant solutions, and other factors. Studies indicate that the manual disinfection of surfaces in hospitals is suboptimal, and despite the use of proper disinfection protocols, about 5 to 30% of surfaces remain contaminated [ 27 ]. The high-level surface contamination with A. baumannii in the present study may be related to the mentioned factors or it may be due to the lack of accurate knowledge of the characteristics of this bacterium during the disinfection of the hospital environment.…”

Preventing Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Transmission in the Intensive Care Unit with a Comprehensive Approach: A Policymaking Manual

“…Another study evaluated the effectiveness of an enhanced cleaning protocol involving the use of UV-C irradiation in a hospital ICU and high-risk areas. The study found that the protocol significantly reduced the presence of microbial contaminants on ICU surfaces from 64.3% to 17.5% [ 49 ]. Finally, the installation of HEPA filters led to a reduction in HAI rates and invasive fungal infections in the hematology unit [ 50 ].…”