Timely insights on whole room disinfection.
HospitalsOctober 18, 2022
UV-C Disinfection Downfalls: Why Dry Fogging is the Best Option for the Hospital Environment
The healthcare environment is vulnerable to various types of viruses and bacteria—and this can have deadly consequences for patients. Unfortunately, infections are a common occurrence, as more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in U.S. hospitals each year, resulting in over 35,000 patient deaths. The effect of these infections comes with a high price tag as well—the estimated annual national cost to treat hospital-acquired infections (HAI) that are multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) is greater than $4.6 billion. These staggering numbers only show how important it is to have the right disinfection process in place.
Choosing the right system for a hospital’s disinfection needs is critical. Unfortunately, many popular disinfection solutions lack the efficacy required to kill these infectious pathogens due to the pathogens lurking in the complex hospital environment. Sprays, wipes and UV lights often can’t reach parts of the hospital landscape which leads to inadequate terminal room disinfection and potentially pathogen transmission.
In this blog post, we will discuss the downfalls of UV light disinfection and why dry fogging is a better option, and explore how Halosil’s Halo Disinfection System® offers the most reliable disinfection on the market today.
Downfalls of UV-C Disinfection
Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection technology has indeed been shown to reduce pathogens on environmental surfaces. However, recent research shows that UV-C disinfection isn’t ideal for terminal cleaning in hospital environments—areas where disinfection is most critical.
According to a recent study, experts believe that a prior room occupant who is an MDRO carrier increases the risk to the subsequent room occupant of infection. The recent retrospective cohort study was published by the University of Cambridge Press and assessed the effectiveness of ultraviolet-C disinfection on transmission of hospital-acquired pathogens from prior room occupants. Researchers evaluated hospital-acquired MDRO infection transmission in patients who had been assigned to the room of a previous occupant who carried one or more MDROs on or during admission. Using logistic regression analysis, investigators estimated the adjusted risk of pathogen transfer with the added use of UV-C disinfection.
The unadjusted overall pathogen transfer rate was 1.6% for exposed patients in standard chlorine-based disinfectant rooms versus 2.4% for exposed patients in rooms treated with adjunct UV-C. These findings suggest that inadequate terminal room cleaning may be a source of pathogen transmission, with results showing that adjunct UV-C disinfection does not provide incremental value in reducing transfer of MDRO.
Ultimately, the analysis did not support the use of UV-C in addition to post-discharge cleaning with chlorine-based disinfectant to lower the risk of prior room occupant pathogen transfer. While UV-C has disinfecting downfalls, other options, like dry fogging, are a better choice for hospital environments.
The Reliability and Effectiveness of Dry Fogging
In an intense pathogenic landscape, only the highest standard for whole room disinfection will do. With pathogens such as C. difficile, COVID-19, norovirus, flu, rhinovirus, MRSA, and more lurking inside healthcare facilities, utilizing the most effective disinfection solution is essential for infection control professionals to be able to protect staff and patients. A proven dry fogging disinfection system—like the Halo Disinfection System®—is shown to be 99.9999% effective against C. diff spores, SARS-CoV-2, and more.
Dry fogging has shown to be highly effective against a broad range of microorganisms. The ease of use, low cost, excellent material compatibility, and overall effectiveness of dry fogging suggest that it should be a top consideration for reducing HAIs and other viruses in healthcare settings.
The Halo Disinfection System
During a hospital stay, patients spend most of their time confined to their rooms, and with high turnover and close quarters, lingering pathogens need to be properly disinfected after a patient is discharged. If proper disinfection does not take place, pathogens can subsequently infect patients who use the room after a previous infected patient.
With UV-C disinfection shown to not be as effective as other forms of disinfection, hospitals need to look to other options like dry fogging. Hospitals should utilize a dry fogging system to deliver disinfectant to all of the crevices and hard to access areas inside the hospital that are beyond the reach of sprays, wipes, and lights. Halosil’s Halo Disinfection System® disperses the patented HaloMist™ solution (EPA Reg. No. 84526-6), which delivers the highest possible effectiveness and it is included on the EPA’s List K for use against C. diff, List N for use against SARS-CoV-2 and List Q for use against Monkeypox.
Powered by a blend of hydrogen peroxide disinfectant with antimicrobial silver ions to act as a broad-spectrum disinfectant solution, the Halo Disinfection System® pairs HaloMist™ with the HaloFogger® device to destroy microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores. Infection prevention teams are thus able to achieve a proven 6-log kill rate across the diverse spaces and places inside the complex hospital environment.
Speak with an expert to learn more about Halosil’s Halo Disinfection System® and how dry fogging is the best option for the hospital environment.