Efficacy of a filtered far-UVC handheld disinfection device in reducing the microbial bioburden of hospital surfaces

Abstract

The filtered far-UV-C (FFUV) handheld disinfection device is a small portable device that emits far UV-C at 222nm. The objective of this study was to evaluate the device's ability to kill microbial pathogens on hospital surfaces and compare it to manual disinfection using germicidal sodium hypochlorite wipes. A total of 344 observations (4 observations from 86 objects' surfaces) were sampled with 2 paired samples per surface: a pre- and a post-sodium hypochlorite and FFUV sample. The results were analyzed via a Bayesian multilevel negative binomial regression model. The estimated mean colony counts for the sodium hypochlorite control and treatment groups were 20.5 (95% uncertainty interval:11.7-36.0) and 0.1 (0.0-0.2) colony forming units (CFUs), respectively. The FFUV control and treatment groups had mean colony counts of 22.2 (12.5-40.1) and 4.1 (2.3-7.2) CFUs. The sodium hypochlorite group and the FFUV group had an estimated 99.4% (99.0%-99.7%) and 81.4% (76.2%-85.7%) reduction in colony counts, respectively. The FFUV handheld device effectively reduced the microbial bioburden on surfaces in the health care setting. The major benefit of FFUV is likely seen when manual disinfection is not possible or when supplementing cleaners or disinfectants with the low-level disinfection properties.