MODELING FAR UV-C INACTIVATION KINETICS OF CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PATHOGENS ON COMMON HOSPITAL SURFACES

Contact with contaminated surfaces is an important route of transmission for healthcare-associated infections. Far UV-C is a novel technology that shows promise for surface disinfection. Rigorous testing suggests Far UV-C is not hazardous to humans when used within exposure limits, making it a safer alternative to conventional germicidal UV-C. We conducted Far UV-C disinfection experiments of common hospital surfaces seeded with healthcare-associated pathogens. Far UV-C doses of 17.5 mJ/cm2 or lower resulted in a 2 log10 (99%) reduction in Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterobacter cloacae on stainless-steel, acrylic, and tile surfaces. Both Weibull and biphasic models describe the inactivation kinetics (0.882 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.99). UV sensitivity was largely species-dependent but independent of material type. Our findings support Far UV-C as an effective disinfection method for diverse hospital surfaces and can inform future implementation.