SA teaching hospital shows 23 percent decrease in superbug transmission after novel intervention
- Wits University
A study shows for the first time that Ultraviolet room decontamination paired with manual cleaning decreases transmission of CRE by 23% in a hospital setting.
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are a set of microorganisms that demonstrate resistance to at least one of the Carbapenem antibiotics.
The CRE crude mortality rate [death rate] is close to 40%, according to limited surveillance studies in SA.
Researchers at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre (WDGMC), the first private teaching hospital in SA, demonstrated the reduction in CRE transmission in a 26-month study across the 210-bed hospital.
The reduction in transmission came after a novel implementation of the intervention that combined the sustained use of a UV room decontamination device with regular cleaning using bleach and ammonium disinfectants.
US-based manufacturer UVDI and eHealthGroup Infection Control provided the UV room decontamination device known as the UVDI-360 Room Sanitizer.
The study was published in the March 2022 issue of The Journal of Hospital Infection.
About the study
The intervention included broad UV room decontamination across five high-risk patient units (including two critical care units, oncology, transplant, and gastrointestinal surgery rooms) during a 12-month period following a 12-month baseline and two-month wash-in period.
A wash-in period refers to the gap between two periods that allow for implementation. Otherwise, the effect may be obscured during the phase of implementation where use is sub-optimal.
“Our team’s study indicated that enhanced environmental hygiene using UV room decontamination technology in the hospital can help prevent the transmission of CRE – an especially challenging set of multidrug-resistant organisms,” says lead investigator Dr Warren Lowman, Clinical Microbiologist & Infection Prevention and Control Specialist at WDGMC and a lecturer in the Division of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in the School of Pathology at Wits University.
The UV room decontamination device was implemented in three usage scenarios:
- Terminal cleaning following patient discharge
- Terminal cleaning following patient transfer; and
- in a novel treatment, occupied rooms where the patient had an existing multidrug resistant organism (MDRO) infection and was moved during device use.
For each scenario, the UV device was operated with five-minute treatment cycles, the number of which varied per room setting and size.
This research underlines WDGMC’s steadfast commitment to patient and staff safety through the use of novel infection prevention protocols,” said Dr Sue Tager, CEO of WDGMC. “In the ongoing fight to prevent the transmission of superbugs, both in and beyond Africa, these results provide hope and concrete proof that effective solutions exist.”
About the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre
Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre (WDGMC) is the first and only private teaching hospital in South Africa. It was established in 2002 when the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) bought the Kenridge Hospital with a founding donation from the Donald Gordon Foundation. The hospital was then renamed the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre. The 210-bed facility’s main specialties are transplant surgery, oncology (paediatric and adult), gastroenterology (medical and surgical), geriatric medicine, interventional radiology ophthalmology, ear-nose and throat, urology, nephrology, cardiology, women’s health and orthopaedics.