With UV light against resistant hospital germs

Remove multi-resistant pathogens with UV light?

19/10/2012

Ultraviolet (UV) light can efficiently kill multi-drug-resistant hospital germs, according to a US study. Deverick Anderson researchers at Durham's Duke University Medical Center used shortwave ultraviolet radiation to remove resistant bacteria in hospital rooms.

The spread of multidrug-resistant clinical germs has increased significantly in recent years. For the patients, the pathogens can sometimes be a considerable danger, as they can penetrate the organism via open wounds, for example, and in many patients the immune system is already considerably weakened. The common antibiotics show no effect in the resistant germs, which makes the treatment significantly more difficult. However, according to the results of the US researchers, the spread of the pathogens in the clinics can be stopped with the help of short-wave UV-C radiation.

UV light for disinfection
At IDWeek 2012, scientists at Duke University and the University of North Carolina presented their latest study on the possibilities of combating resistant clinical pathogens with short-wave UV light at San Diego's annual scientific convention on infectious diseases. The UV-C light has been used for years to disinfect water, other liquids, food and air. However, the now proven use against clinical germs is new. The US researchers examined in their study, the effect of the short-wave UV-C light on the three different, relatively common clinical pathogens Acinetobacter, Clostridium difficile and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) has.

Dangerous resistant hospital germs
The three bacterial genera considered can cause significant health problems in patients. For example, Acinetobacter are considered as a possible trigger of wound infections, lung and meningitis. Clostridium difficile as a gut bacterium causes severe diarrhea in those affected and the vancomycin-resistant enterococci can cause urinary tract infections, blood poisoning or even inflammation of the innerocular membranes. An efficient elimination of pathogens in the clinics is therefore imperative to minimize the risk of so-called hospital infections.

Cleaning the clinic room with UV light
The US scientists have now investigated how effective the use of short-wave UV light is against the multidrug-resistant germs. For this purpose, the physicians selected 50 hospital rooms in which previously lay patients who were infected with at least one of the germs. Of the surfaces that often come into contact with patients, such as the remote controls, the telephone receiver, the door handles and the bedstead, the researchers took samples to determine the germ concentration. Subsequently, a lamp with eight UV-C bulbs was placed in the middle of the room. After 45 minutes of irradiation, the researchers again controlled the bacterial load on the surfaces.

UV-C light efficiently kills resistant hospital germs
The effect of UV light on the concentration of multidrug-resistant bacteria was convincing, according to the US scientists. Thus, the number of viable hospital germs on the land had decreased significantly. Exposure decreased by more than 98 percent for Acinetobacter, 97.9 percent for VRE and a marked decrease in Clostridium difficile - although the microbial concentration was significantly lower in the run-up to UV light, reports Deverick Anderson and colleagues. "We have provided solid evidence that this approach is successful in both experimental and real world settings," said Anderson, adding, "Now is the time to check whether the rate of infection among patients is actually decreasing "When disinfecting hospital rooms with UV light. It was already known from previous studies that short-wave UV light can also be used to combat the dreaded hospital germ MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

Improvement of hospital hygiene by UV light
The UV-light disinfection could simplify the processes in everyday hospital life significantly, even if the US researchers said they would never suggest that UV light is the only way to use the room cleaning. "But in a time of increasing antibiotic resistance, it could be an important supplement," explained Anderson. Because today, the hospitals are under enormous economic pressure to quickly occupy vacant rooms again. The period of time to clean the clinic rooms is therefore often extremely limited, which sometimes has a detrimental effect on hospital hygiene. The UV light would be a good supplement to conventional cleaning. According to the US researchers, the current study has shown that the use of UV light can help reduce the estimated 1.7 million hospital infections in the US. In this way, the estimated cost of up to eleven billion for the treatment of these infections could be reduced, Anderson and colleagues report. (Fp)

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