High Intensity Narrow Wavelength in Rapid Killing of Micro-Organisms at Long Term Health Care Facility

Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are a global challenge especially in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Older people are more vulnerable to infection due to the senescence of their immune system, resulting in more frequent and longer hospitalization, increased cost of care, hence greater workload. Even in the strict hospital environment, less than half of the environmental surfaces sampled were not properly cleaned and this poses a significant risk of disease transmission. In this study, new light-based surface disinfection technology can complement existing hospital practice to address an important public health problem. Its strategy is based on high-intensity narrow wavelength (Hi-NW) light sources for surface decontamination of microorganisms commonly found in health care environments using synergic effects of blue LEDs at 405 & 470 nm and UV LED at 278nm, which were not previously investigated together. A retrospective review of MDRO records has been conducted throughout the study period.Organisms were identified using special agar media and treatment with Hi-NW prototype was tested in the LTCF surfaces. The prototype results show 99.9% & 88.9% bactericidal rate against MDROs for 5minutes and 2 minutes exposure time on flat surfacesrespectively. Work is still in progress for 30 second cycle exposure of prototype. This discovery will support the use of the device as a high material compatibility technology with hospital items, or in other common areas, such as public areas and homes, where frequently touched surfaces play an important role in disease transmission. There is an utmost need of this tool to prevent proliferation of MDROs.