1153. UV-C Technology Is an Effective Adjunct to Terminal Cleaning in Environmental Pathogen Reduction in a Tertiary Pediatric Hospital

Abstract

BackgroundEffective environmental surface cleaning plays a vital role in reducing transmission of hospital-acquired infections. There remains a paucity of data in the pediatric literature regarding environmental pathogen reduction utilizing UV-C light. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reduction of environmental pathogens using UV-C light (Clorox Optimum-UV) as an adjunct to terminal cleaning in a free-standing tertiary pediatric hospital.MethodsUpon patient discharge, a subset of patient rooms were tested for pathogens. Surface swabs were collected from high touch surfaces (call button, telemetry monitor, door handle, flush handle of toilet, faucet, bed rail, phone, keyboard pad, mouse, side table, dresser, and light switch). After terminal cleaning of the room, per hospital protocol the Clorox Optimum-UV completed one or two cycles of 5 minutes each depending on the dimensions of the room. Post-UV-C surface swabs were obtained from the same high touch areas in the room. Total colony count was reported from each of the surfaces swabbed. Swabs were streaked onto non-selective agar and incubated at 30-35oC for 72–96 hours. Mean plate colony count was determined manually and reported as CFU/swab. Data analysis was performed in Minitab 18.1. Fisher least significant difference (LSD) test was used to describe the difference between total bacterial counts at each time point (Pre-clean: dirty room, Post-clean: pre-UV-C/post-terminal clean, Post-UV: post UV-C light cycle).ResultsMean total colony counts prior to cleaning the room was 92.3 CFU (33 surfaces), Pre-UV-C light 45.6 CFU and post-UV-C light 5.8 CFU (64 surfaces). Total bacterial counts are represented in Graphs 1 and 2. Upon multivariate analysis, the time the sample was taken (preclean, postclean, or post-UV) was the single explanatory variable for the differences seen in the means of total bacterial counts (P = 0).ConclusionOur study demonstrates that UV-C disinfection is a highly effective adjunctive cleaning method with standard terminal cleaning to reduce bacterial burden from environmental surfaces.Graph 1: Total Bacterial Counts (CFU) at each timepoint of surface sampling.Graph 2: Total Bacterial Counts (CFU) with 95% Confidence Intervals at each timepoint of surface sampling.Disclosures A. Lucas, Clorox: Research Contractor, Grant recipient. M. Nayakwadi Singer, Clorox: Grant Investigator, Grant recipient.