Efficacy of a Filtered Far-UVC Handheld Disinfection Device on Reducing Microbial Bioburden of Hospital Surfaces

Objectives The Filtered Far-UVC (FFUV) handheld disinfection device is a small portable device that emits far UVC 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. Methods 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 a pre- and a post-FFUV samples. The results were analyzed via a Bayesian multilevel negative binomial regression model. Additionally, the bacterial flora recovered were identified using mass spectrometry. Results The estimated mean colony counts for the sodium hypochlorite control and treatment groups were 20.5 (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 samples had an estimated 99.4% (99.0% – 99.7%) reduction in colony counts, while those from the FFUV group had an 81.4% (76.2% − 85.7%) reduction. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that FFUV handheld device effectively reduced microbial bioburden on surfaces in the healthcare setting. Several healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) causing pathogens (gram positive and negative bacteria) were retrieved from the pre-clean surfaces. 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.