Disinfecting personal protective equipment with pulsed xenon ultraviolet as a risk mitigation strategy for health care workers. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE) after contamination with pathogens such as Ebola poses a risk to health care workers. Pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) disinfection has been used to disinfect surfaces in hospital settings. This study examined the impact of PX-UV disinfection on an Ebola surrogate virus on glass carriers and PPE material to examine the potential benefits of using PX-UV to decontaminate PPE while worn, thereby reducing the pathogen load prior to doffing. Ultraviolet (UV) safety and coverage tests were also conducted. PX-UV exposure resulted in a significant reduction in viral load on glass carriers and PPE materials. Occupational Safety and Health Administration-defined UV exposure limits were not exceeded during PPE disinfection. Predoffing disinfection with PX-UV has potential as an additive measure to the doffing practice guidelines. The PX-UV disinfection should not be considered sterilization; all PPE should still be considered contaminated and doffed and disposed of according to established protocols.

published proceedings

  • Am J Infect Control

altmetric score

  • 18

author list (cited authors)

  • Jinadatha, C., Simmons, S., Dale, C., Ganachari-Mallappa, N., Villamaria, F. C., Goulding, N., ... Stibich, M.

citation count

  • 39

complete list of authors

  • Jinadatha, Chetan||Simmons, Sarah||Dale, Charles||Ganachari-Mallappa, Nagaraja||Villamaria, Frank Charles||Goulding, Nicole||Tanner, Benjamin||Stachowiak, Julie||Stibich, Mark

publication date

  • January 2015