Mediland’s Livestream webinar: Effectiveness of UVC Disinfection in Hospitals was round-off on Oct 20th, 2021!
We appreciate all participators and each precious question had been raised online.
We had Dr. Benevetta Tuvo from the Hospital of PISA University (Italy) and Scientist Fu-Chieh Chang from MacKay Memorial Hospital (Taiwan) met online, sharing their perspectives and researches with the public.
They both mentioned the problems with disinfectants and issues in manual cleaning, which is the motivation for their hospitals to carry out the clinical studies applying UVC disinfection in the environmental hygiene process. The results showed a significant reduction of microbial burden and improvement of environmental disinfection.
Here are some highlights and solutions abstracted from the Livestream Q&A sections for your inspiration:
Q: How would you disinfect ICU or wards with multiple beds in the same room?
A: When using UVC in the multi-bed room, please place the UVC at 2 or more locations (different sides and multiple times) to maximize the UVC exposure and reduce the shadow area. Because the efficacy will be declined in the shadow area.
The other solution is to use curtains to separate the area and perform a single bed disinfection process. Curtains could block UVC, so it is safe to use it while other beds are occupied. This can also increase the flexibility of your disinfection schedule and optimize hospital bed occupancy.
Q: Do we have to do surface cleaning before using UVC?
A: Always do the cleaning before disinfection! Because the disinfection efficacy would be reduced by dust or contaminant.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, cleaning before using UVC might raise the chance to spread the virus. To protect our cleaning staff, we use UVC right after patient discharge. It might not be able to kill all viruses, but it could reduce the majority of them and improve the safety of our staff. After manual cleaning, use UVC again to ensure the disinfection efficacy and improve the safety of the next patient.
Q: Can you use more than one machine in a room to speed up the process?
A: Yes, you can do that. Some hospitals in Taiwan use 2 units at the same time to speed up the disinfection process in OR. However, the power consumption of Hyper Light is high. Please confirm the electricity capacity in your hospital before operating 2 or more units in the same room.
Q: Can UVC machine be used in the radiology dept where the MRI/CT scan machine is in operation?
A: There are users using the Hyper Light in CT scan rooms, such as in Taiwan and mainland China, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because CT scan room is used to diagnose COVID-19 patients, which belongs to a high-risk area.
However, for MRI room, Hyper Light could be used only after MRI machine had been shut down completely (about after 6 hrs). Otherwise, it is inappropriate to use Hyper Light in MRI room due to magnetic issue.
Q: Question to Tuvo: What do you think of photoreactivation and microbial UVC resistance?
Yes, photoreactivation and microbial UVC resistance will be an issue. That’s why UVC dosage matters! Disinfection by high UVC dosage could kill the pathogens all at once to reduce the photoreactivation effect and achieve better results.
It is a wonderful chance that we gathered experts to share their practices and raise public awareness. The implementation of infection control needs all of our attendance.
