Is the pulsed xenon ultraviolet light no-touch disinfection system effective on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the absence of manual cleaning?

Abstract

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been shown to survive on ambient surfaces for extended periods of time. Leftover MRSA environmental contamination in a hospital room places future patients at risk. Manual disinfection supplemented by pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) light disinfection has been shown to greatly decrease the MRSA bioburden in hospital rooms. However, the effect of PX-UV in the absence of manual disinfection has not been evaluated.

Methods: Rooms that were previously occupied by a MRSA-positive patient (current colonization or infection) were selected for the study immediately postdischarge. Five high-touch surfaces were sampled, before and after PX-UV disinfection, in each hospital room. The effectiveness of the PX-UV device on the concentration of MRSA was assessed employing a Wilcoxon signed-rank test for all 70 samples with MRSA in 14 rooms, as well as by surface location.

Results: The final analysis included 14 rooms. Before PX-UV disinfection there were a total of 393 MRSA colonies isolated from the 5 high-touch surfaces. There were 100 MRSA colonies after disinfection by the PX-UV device and the overall reduction was statistically significant (P < .01).

Conclusions: Our study results suggest that PX-UV light effectively reduces MRSA colony counts in the absence of manual disinfection. These findings are important for hospital and environmental services supervisors who plan to adapt new technologies as an adjunct to routine manual disinfection.

Keywords: Environmental contamination; High touch surfaces; Hospital-acquired infections; Supplemental terminal cleaning.