Study Finds UV Light Disinfection Significantly Reduces C. Difficile Incidences

Ultraviolet C light disinfection used to clean unoccupied patient rooms greatly reduces C. difficile infections (CDI) in high-risk patients who later occupied those rooms, according to an Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology study.

The findings, published in the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), also claims that the no-touch UV light disinfection device, used after patients with CDI were discharged from the hospital resulted in substantial healthcare savings, projected to be between $350,000 and $1.5 million yearly.

“UV light disinfection is a fast, safe, and effective technology to reduce the risk of C. difficile infection associated with the hospital environment,” says David Pegues, MD, lead author of the study and a professor of Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “The success of this technology is dependent on Environmental Services employees as a critical partner in our ongoing efforts to eliminate hospital-acquired infections such as C. difficile and to improve patient safety.”

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