| Abstract: |
Objective To determine the effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) environmental disinfection system on rates of hospital-acquired vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) and Clostridium difficile.Design Using active surveillance and an interrupted time-series design, hospital-acquired acquisition of VRE and C. difficile on a bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit were examined before and after implementation of terminal disinfection with UV on all rooms regardless of isolation status of patients. The main outcomes were hospital-based acquisition measured through (1) active surveillance: admission, weekly, and discharge screening for VRE and toxigenic C. difficile (TCD) and (2) clinical surveillance: incidence of VRE and CDI on the unit.Setting Bone marrow transplant unit at a tertiary-care cancer center.Participants Stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients.Intervention Terminal disinfection of all rooms with UV regardless of isolation status of patients.Results During the 20-month study period, 579 patients had 704 admissions to the BMT unit, and 2,160 surveillance tests were performed. No change in level or trend in the incidence of VRE (trend incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81-1.14; level IRR, 1.34; 95% CI, 0.37-1.18) or C. difficile (trend IRR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.89-1.31; level IRR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.13-2.11) was observed after the intervention.Conclusions Utilization of UV disinfection to supplement routine terminal cleaning of rooms was not effective in reducing hospital-acquired VRE and C. difficile among SCT recipients. © 2018 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. |
