New UV air disinfection technology could help protect against medical infections, perhaps the next pandemic

Experts say a new type of UVC, called far-UVC, could be highly effective in reducing airborne transmission of diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza, as well as surface contamination in hospitals. The company is conducting research on ultraviolet rays and hopes to be able to further reduce them. Risk of next pandemic.

In a new research review presented at this year's ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID) in Barcelona, ​​Spain (April 27-30), Curtis Donsky of the Lewis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, USA Dr. Will be discussing the initiative. As the development of this continuous surface and air decontamination technology in clinical settings continues, safety concerns still need to be addressed.

As the global pandemic drags on, disinfectants are more important than ever. Airborne transmission of diseases such as COVID-19 and tuberculosis in public places highlights the need for improved technology to limit their spread.

Similarly, environmental pollution plays an important role in the spread of healthcare-associated infections, with pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridioides difficile lingering on surfaces and contributing to the spread of infections. There is likely to be. More than 3.5 million healthcare-associated infections occur each year in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), resulting in more than 90,000 deaths.

“To compound the problem, a major limitation of traditional cleaning and disinfection strategies is that disinfected surfaces can rapidly become recontaminated between manual cleanings,” explains Dr. Donsky. “Daily cleaning of hospital rooms is likely insufficient to reduce the burden of infectious agents, and manual cleaning of intricate surfaces, equipment, and instruments makes thorough cleaning difficult.

“These limitations have led to the development of technologies that can continuously decontaminate occupied spaces between manual cleanings. , an affordable technology.”

One of the most promising candidates is ultraviolet light technology.

“We've known since the 1940s that ultraviolet light kills bacteria and inactivates airborne viruses, making them no longer infectious,” Dr. Donsky says. “Traditional UV light has been widely used in hospitals and prisons, but can only be used when the room is unoccupied because it can damage the skin and eyes. The goal is to continuously decontaminate rooms where people are present.

Far UV-C has a shorter wavelength (222 nm) than traditional germicidal UVC light (254 nm) and does not penetrate or damage skin, eyes, or tissues. Studies have shown that far-UVC light can quickly and efficiently kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus, other human coronaviruses, influenza, and drug-resistant bacteria.

Because ultraviolet light kills microorganisms, viruses, and bacteria, it is not possible to develop resistance to it like with vaccines or drug treatments. Additional testing in real-world environments showed that far-UV-C reduced airborne infectious viruses by more than 99%. This is much better than what is typically achieved using general air filtration and ventilation.

“While some studies suggest that far-UV-C light, which is within current regulatory limits, may be safe for use around people, the safety of these rays in clinical settings is not clear. More research is needed to confirm its potential, and long-term follow-up is required before safety is established. It will probably be used routinely in occupied medical settings. ” warns Dr. Donski. “Far-UV-C technology can produce small amounts of ozone, so it is also important to assess ozone concentrations.”

Based on currently available information, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that in the short term, whole-room UV is best considered a new and emerging technology.

Nevertheless, far UV-C (222 nm) has emerged as the leading continuous decontamination technology, with several commercial technologies now available on the market. Companies selling far UV-C devices include Ushio (Care222 Filtered Far UV-C Excimer Lamp Module), Sterilray (GermBuster Channel), Lit Thinking (Visium), and Far UV Technologies.

“Some early adopters are beginning to use these technologies in medical settings,” says Dr. Donsky. “For example, a dental clinic in Ohio installed far-UV-C lamps in five patient treatment rooms in 2020 and operated the technology for thousands of hours with no reports of adverse effects. Partnering with researchers may help obtain information on the long-term safety of far-UV-C. ”

He continued, “One new approach that could accelerate the early implementation of far-UV-C in clinical settings would be the delivery of far-UV-C in an intermittent rather than continuous manner. Such an approach would “It will only deliver far-UV-C when no one is present, and will turn off if there are people present.” We are currently evaluating this intermittent approach for the decontamination of equipment rooms, bathrooms, sinks, and patient rooms; We anticipate that the use of this technology in the clinical field will be more actively considered. . ”