This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
UV room disinfection reduces ICU-associated C. difficile infection
The use of ultraviolet disinfection during hospital discharge could reduce the incidence of ICU-associated Clostridium difficile infection, according to recently published data.
“In view of the importance of environmental contamination with C. difficile, disinfection procedures that are not solely dependent on individual practice are being used,” the researchers wrote. “[UV light for room disinfection (UVD)] has been shown to eradicate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Acinetobacter, and C. difficile under the artificial conditions of inoculating surfaces with bacteria, exposing the bacteria to UV light and then culturing the surface.”
To further test UVD in a clinical setting, researchers examined its first year of implementation at Westchester Medical Center, a tertiary care hospital with 180 ICU beds in Valhalla, New York.
UVD was performed after discharge with pulsed xenon UV light after standardized procedures. For each case of C. difficile infection, data concerning the patients’ lengths of stay, the rooms they occupied and the rate of hospital- and community-associated C. difficile infection were collected. Analysis was performed, comparing the first year of UVD procedures (July 2011 through June 2012) and a similar period of time before implementation (May 2010 through April 2011).
There were 525 cases of C. difficile infection examined throughout the study; 251 occurred during the use of UVD procedures. While the C. difficile infection rate was similar for each study period, hospital-associated C. difficile was reduced by 22% during the period of UVD implementation (RR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.61-1.009). When examining adult ICU cases alone (n = 60), researchers observed a much more significant reduction in C. difficile infection of 70% among UVD patients (P < .001). A decrease in lengths of stay also was observed after implementation, but these were attributed to an increase in community-associated cases.
“These data suggest that UVD contributes to a reduction in [ICU-associated C. difficile infection] and may be an important adjunct to standard cleaning practices,” the researchers wrote. “These data also demonstrate the importance of monitoring [community-associated C. difficile infection] and total [C. difficile infection] contact precautions days along with interventions that may affect [hospital-associated] rates. A controlled trial of UVD use is needed to further clarify the effect of UVD on C. difficile transmission.” – by Dave Muoio
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.