Disinfecting a hospital room with UV light as well as chemical solutions can help reduce transmission of dangerous bacteria between patients, according to research from Duke University reported by Healio.
In all, 21,395 exposed patients met the criteria for inclusion in the study: 4,916 in the reference group, 5,178 in the quaternary ammonium or bleach plus UV-C group, 5,863 in the bleach plus UV-C group, and 5,438 in the bleach-only group.
The enhanced disinfection strategies led to a 10% to 30% overall reduced likelihood of patients acquiring the same infection as a previous patient. The most effective strategy was adding UV-C light to standard disinfection procedures, which decreased in the incidence of target organisms by 30% overall, leading to lower rates of infection in eight of the nine hospitals.
However, Anderson and colleagues noted no statistically significant decrease in infections after using bleach or bleach plus UV-C. They also noted that the incidence of C. difficile was not different after adding UV-C light to standard bleach disinfection.
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