Ultraviolet light added to disinfection cuts C diff.

A study has shown that adding the use of ultraviolet light to disinfection helps cut Clostridium difficile (C diff.) infections, according to an article on the MD website.

Investigators from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., designed an intervention across three units in the facility. They began their ultraviolet intervention in two hematology wards and two bone marrow transplant units plus a medical surgical unit. There were also three similarly matched control units.

The ultraviolet disinfection step was added after patient discharge and terminal cleaning using a pulsed xenon ultraviolet disinfection for a six-month period between October 2014 and March 2015. 

During the study, C diff. infection rates dropped in the intervention units to 11.2 per 10,000 patient days from 28.7 per 10,000 patient days in the control units.

Read the article.