Ultra Violet-C Light Evaluation as an Adjunct to Removing Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (UVCLEAR-MDRO)

Ultra Violet-C Light Evaluation as an Adjunct to Removing Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (UVCLEAR-MDRO)

This study examines the impact of UV-C light disinfection as an adjunct to routine daily and discharge patient room cleaning on patient infection and colonization with hospital associated bacteria.

Patient rooms are counted as enrolled since consent was waived and the number of participants is unknown. Total of 83 rooms.

Effective cleaning of the patient environment (the patient room during hospital stay) is subject to human factors and unfortunately is often inconsistent or inadequate. Patient rooms that have residual bacteria after routine environmental cleaning can act as reservoirs for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and contribute to the spread of MDROs from patient to patient. In the setting of an increased focus on Healthcare-associated Infections such as Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and multidrug-resistant Gram negative and Gram positive organisms such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphlococcus aureus (MRSA), Ultra-Violet C (UV-C) light has been shown to be a safe, effective way to decrease the burden of MDROs in patient rooms. However, studies examining the effectiveness of UV-C light when used post daily and discharge patient room cleaning are lacking.

This study is a cluster, randomized, two-period cross over trial to investigate the relationship between environmental decontamination with UV-C light and transmission of VRE and other healthcare-associated bacteria. It investigates the hypothesis that UV-C in addition to daily cleaning leads to decreased patient acquisition of healthcare-associated bacteria.

This study is important to further advance hospital-based infection prevention knowledge of the impact of UV-C light for environmental cleaning.

Patient rooms are counted as enrolled since consent was waived and the number of participants is unknown. Total of 83 rooms.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient rooms in pre-selected hospital units within Johns Hopkins Hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

• None, intervention is at level of the hospital unit, not the patient