The DOI matches its Crossref record; 13 of the 14 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Room Decontamination with UV Radiation
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a UV-C-emitting device to eliminate clinically important nosocomial pathogens in a contaminated hospital room. METHODS: This study was carried out in a standard but empty hospital room (phase 1) and in a room previously occupied by a patient with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infection (phase 2) in an acute care tertiary hospital in North Carolina from January 21 through September 21, 2009. During phase 1, 8 x 8 cm Formica sheets contaminated with approximately 10(4)-10(5) organisms of MRSA, VRE, multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii, or Clostridium difficile spores were placed in a hospital room, both in direct line of sight of the UV-C device and behind objects. After timed exposure, the presence of the microbes was assessed. During phase 2, specific sites in rooms that had housed patients with MRSA or VRE infection were sampled before and after UV-C irradiation. After timed exposure, the presence of MRSA and VRE and total colony counts were assessed. RESULTS: In our test room, the effectiveness of UV-C radiation in reducing the counts of vegetative bacteria on surfaces was more than 99.9% within 15 minutes, and the reduction in C. difficile spores was 99.8% within 50 minutes. In rooms occupied by patients with MRSA, UV-C irradiation of approximately 15 minutes duration resulted in a decrease in total CFUs per plate (mean, 384 CFUs vs 19 CFUs; P < .001), in the number of samples positive for MRSA (81 [20.3%] of 400 plates vs 2 [0.5%] of 400 plates; P < .001), and in MRSA counts per MRSA-positive plate (mean, 37 CFUs vs 2 CFUs; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This UV-C device was effective in eliminating vegetative bacteria on contaminated surfaces both in the line of sight and behind objects within approximately 15 minutes and in eliminating C. difficile spores within 50 minutes.
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“In studies investigating the efficacy, UV has been shown to have a high capacity to kill microbes found on humans with elevated times of exposure needed to inactivate particularly resilient organisms, such as anthrax spores, C. difficile and P. aeruginosa biofilms [119,120,121].”
Citations
Cites
Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International
Horwitz, W., & LATIMER, G. W. (2006) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 10,948
Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC INTERNATIONAL
(2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780197610145.001.0001 · Cited by 5,942
Risk of Acquiring Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria From Prior Room Occupants
Huang, S. S. (2006) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.166.18.1945 · Cited by 516
Disinfection, Sterilization and Preservation
Plein, E. M. (1977) · American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy · doi:10.1093/ajhp/34.12.1372 · Cited by 427
Drees, M. L., Snydman, D. R., Schmid, C. H., Barefoot, L., Hansjosten, K., Vue, P. M., Cronin, M., Nasraway, S. A., & Golan, Y. (2008) · Clinical Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1086/527394 · Cited by 305
Improving Cleaning of the Environment Surrounding Patients in 36 Acute Care Hospitals
Carling, P., Parry, M. M., Rupp, M. E., Po, J. L., Dick, B., Beheren, S. V., & Healthcare Environmental Hygiene Study Group (2008) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/591940 · Cited by 264
Identifying Opportunities to Enhance Environmental Cleaning in 23 Acute Care Hospitals
Carling, P., Parry, M. F., Beheren, S. V., & Healthcare Environmental Hygiene Study Group (2007) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/524329 · Cited by 253
Improved Cleaning of Patient Rooms Using a New Targeting Method
Carling, P., Briggs, J. L., Perkins, J., & Highlander, D. (2006) · Clinical Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1086/499361 · Cited by 167
Rastogi, V. K., Wallace, L., & Smith, L. S. (2007) · Military Medicine · doi:10.7205/milmed.172.11.1166 · Cited by 47
New Approaches to Decontamination of Rooms After Patients Are Discharged
Boyce, J. M. (2009) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/598999 · Cited by 46
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1 of the 14 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Rutala, 2009, APIC Text of Infection Control and Epidemiology, 21, 1
- Blatchley, 2001, Disinfection, Sterilization and Preservation, 823
- Shaughnessy, 2008, Programs and abstracts of the 48th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy/Infections Disease Society of America 46th Annual Meeting
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Sorted by citations
Dancer, S. J. (2014) · Clinical Microbiology Reviews · doi:10.1128/cmr.00020-14 · Cited by 693
The Role Played by Contaminated Surfaces in the Transmission of Nosocomial Pathogens
Otter, J. A., Yezli, S., & French, G. L. (2011) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/660363 · Cited by 678
36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine
Bateman, R. M., Sharpe, M. D., Jagger, J. E., Ellis, C. G., Solé‐Violán, J., López-Rodríguez, M., Herrera‐Ramos, E., Ruiz-Hernández, J. J., Borderías, L., Horcajada, J. P., et al. (2016) · Critical Care · doi:10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6 · Cited by 563
Modern technologies for improving cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces in hospitals
Boyce, J. M. (2016) · Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control · doi:10.1186/s13756-016-0111-x · Cited by 451
Copper Surfaces Reduce the Rate of Healthcare-Acquired Infections in the Intensive Care Unit
Salgado, C. D., Sepkowitz, K. A., John, J. F., Cantey, J. R., Attaway, H. H., Freeman, K. D., Sharpe, P. A., Michels, H. T., & Schmidt, M. G. (2013) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/670207 · Cited by 366
Metadata
- Authors
- Rutala, W. A., Gergen, M. F., & Weber, D. J.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rutala, William A.
- ORCID
- Weber, David J.
- Venue
- Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2010-10
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1025-1029
- ISSN
- 0899-823X (ISSN-L)
- 1559-6834
- OpenAlex
- W2143825991
- Cited by
- 221
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 8.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
- Funders
- U.S. Public Health Service (1ULRR025747-01)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Infection Control in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Medical Device Sterilization and Disinfection
- Keywords
- UV-C disinfection, nosocomial pathogens, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Acinetobacter baumannii, multidrug-resistant bacteria, surface decontamination, hospital room disinfection
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, Bacterial Infections, Cross Infection, Decontamination, Hospitals, Humans, North Carolina, Patients' Rooms, Ultraviolet Rays, Colony Count, Microbial, Clostridioides difficile, Enterococcus, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
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