Clinical Application of Ultraviolet C Inactivation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Contaminated Hospital Environments

To overcome the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, transmission routes, such as healthcare worker infection, must be effectively prevented. Ultraviolet C (UVC) (254 nm) has recently been demonstrated to prevent environmental contamination by infected patients; however, studies on...

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Veröffentlicht in:Viruses 2021-11, Vol.13 (12), p.2367
Hauptverfasser: Su, Wen-Lin, Lin, Chih-Pei, Huang, Hui-Ching, Wu, Yao-Kuang, Yang, Mei-Chen, Chiu, Sheg-Kang, Peng, Ming-Yieh, Chan, Ming-Chin, Chao, You-Chen
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:To overcome the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, transmission routes, such as healthcare worker infection, must be effectively prevented. Ultraviolet C (UVC) (254 nm) has recently been demonstrated to prevent environmental contamination by infected patients; however, studies on its application in contaminated hospital settings are limited. Herein, we explored the clinical application of UVC and determined its optimal dose. Environmental samples ( = 267) collected in 2021 were analyzed by a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and subjected to UVC irradiation for different durations (minutes). We found that washbasins had a high contamination rate (45.5%). SARS-CoV-2 was inactivated after 15 min (estimated dose: 126 mJ/cm ) of UVC irradiation, and the contamination decreased from 41.7% before irradiation to 16.7%, 8.3%, and 0% after 5, 10, and 15 min of irradiation, respectively ( = 0.005). However, SARS-CoV-2 was still detected in washbasins after irradiation for 20 min but not after 30 min (252 mJ/cm ). Thus, 15 min of 254-nm UVC irradiation was effective in cleaning plastic, steel, and wood surfaces in the isolation ward. For silicon items, such as washbasins, 30 min was suggested; however, further studies using hospital environmental samples are needed to confirm the effective UVC inactivation of SARS-CoV-2.
ISSN:1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI:10.3390/v13122367