title: Is the pulsed xenon ultraviolet light no-touch disinfection system effective on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the absence of manual cleaning?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been shown to survive on ambient surfaces for extended periods of time. Leftover MRSA environmental contamination in a hospital room places future patients at risk. Manual disinfection supplemented by pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) light disinfection has been shown to greatly decrease the MRSA bioburden in hospital rooms. However, the effect of PX-UV in the absence of manual disinfection has not been evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rooms that were previously occupied by a MRSA-positive patient (current colonization or infection) were selected for the study immediately postdischarge. Five high-touch surfaces were sampled, before and after PX-UV disinfection, in each hospital room. The effectiveness of the PX-UV device on the concentration of MRSA was assessed employing a Wilcoxon signed-rank test for all 70 samples with MRSA in 14 rooms, as well as by surface location.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The final analysis included 14 rooms. Before PX-UV disinfection there were a total of 393 MRSA colonies isolated from the 5 high-touch surfaces. There were 100 MRSA colonies after disinfection by the PX-UV device and the overall reduction was statistically significant (P < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study results suggest that PX-UV light effectively reduces MRSA colony counts in the absence of manual disinfection. These findings are important for hospital and environmental services supervisors who plan to adapt new technologies as an adjunct to routine manual disinfection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System, Temple, TX; Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Bryan, TX. Electronic address: chetan.jinadatha@va.gov.
authors.forename: Chetan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jinadatha
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System, Temple, TX; School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Villamaria
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, South Texas Veterans Health Care System; University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX.
authors.forename: Marcos I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Restrepo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System, Temple, TX.
authors.forename: Nagaraja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ganachari-Mallappa
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System, Temple, TX; School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
authors.forename: I-Chia
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Center for Applied Health Research, Temple, TX.
authors.forename: Eileen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Stock
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System, Temple, TX; Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Bryan, TX; Center for Applied Health Research, Temple, TX.
authors.forename: Laurel A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Copeland
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System, Temple, TX; Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Bryan, TX; Center for Applied Health Research, Temple, TX.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Zeber
mesh_terms: D058491:Bacterial Load; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014978:Xenon
chemical_list: D014978:Xenon
keywords: Environmental contamination; High touch surfaces; Hospital-acquired infections; Supplemental terminal cleaning