C. difficile forms spores that are resistant to many disinfectants and can persist in the hospital environment for months. Approximately 500,000 people contract C. diff while in the hospital every year in the U.S., and nearly 15,000 die directly from the infection. Immunocompromised patients are more susceptible to infections than other inpatients.
Several new cleaning tactics—on top of all the scrubbing, mopping, spraying, and wiping performed by Environmental Services (EVS) professionals—have been implemented at hospitals across the U.S to help reduce transmission of such infections, but which new methods are the most effective and practical has remained unclear. New research from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania helped to fill that gap.
The study found that treating empty patient rooms with ultraviolet C light disinfection robots can substantially reduce the rate of C. difficile infections in high-risk patients who will later occupy the rooms.
For the study, researchers conducted the disinfection technique and monitored its impact on C. diff infection rates over a one-year period (February 2014 to January 2015) across three units at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The addition of UV disinfection to infection prevention protocols was associated with a 25 percent reduction in C. diff infection rates among new patients in the three study units. Concurrently, C. difficile rates increased by 16 percent in units outside of the study.
The findings of this study have real implications for both healthcare facilities and patients. The effectiveness and efficiency of UV-C robots make it a practical and cost effective technology that will benefit hospitals around the country and save people's lives.
Pegues DA, et al. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016;doi:10.1017/ice.2016.222
Several new cleaning tactics—on top of all the scrubbing, mopping, spraying, and wiping performed by Environmental Services (EVS) professionals—have been implemented at hospitals across the U.S to help reduce transmission of such infections, but which new methods are the most effective and practical has remained unclear. New research from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania helped to fill that gap.
The study found that treating empty patient rooms with ultraviolet C light disinfection robots can substantially reduce the rate of C. difficile infections in high-risk patients who will later occupy the rooms.
For the study, researchers conducted the disinfection technique and monitored its impact on C. diff infection rates over a one-year period (February 2014 to January 2015) across three units at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The addition of UV disinfection to infection prevention protocols was associated with a 25 percent reduction in C. diff infection rates among new patients in the three study units. Concurrently, C. difficile rates increased by 16 percent in units outside of the study.
The findings of this study have real implications for both healthcare facilities and patients. The effectiveness and efficiency of UV-C robots make it a practical and cost effective technology that will benefit hospitals around the country and save people's lives.
Pegues DA, et al. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016;doi:10.1017/ice.2016.222
