A trial of pulsed xenon ultraviolet disinfection to reduce Clostridioides difficile infection

Abstract

Background: An intervention was designed to test whether the addition of an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection step after terminal cleaning would be helpful in reducing Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) rates in a real-world situation.

Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental design using 3 units as intervention units for the intervention and 3 similar units as control units. Intervention units 2 hematology and bone marrow transplant units and one medical-surgical unit at a large teaching hospital in the Midwest. UV disinfection was added after patient discharge and terminal cleaning in the intervention units.

Results: At baseline, CDI rates in the intervention and control arms were similar. During the 6 months of UV disinfection, the CDI rate in the intervention units decreased to 11.2 per 10,000 patient days, compared with 28.7 per 10,000 patient days in the control units (P = .03). In addition, the intervention units also saw a reduction in vancomycin-resistant enterococci acquisition.

Conclusions: The addition of UV disinfection to the terminal cleaning resulted in a reduction in CDI that has been sustained over several months 2 years.

Keywords: Bone marrow transplant units; Environmental cleaning; Terminal cleaning; VRE.