| The Effects of UV - 254 nm Light on Hospital Air Contaminants. |
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Jai Sook Lee, Hee Jong Yoo, Young Kee Kim, Seong Ho Chang |
1Department of Anesthesiology, College of Mediciene, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
2Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Mediciene, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. |
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| Abstract |
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An individual may be at increased risk of acquiring an infectious disease either because of inherent host factors, such as age and illness, or environmental factors, manipulations performed as part of medical practice, or a combination of both factors. Among the exogenaus causes, especially the mode of airborne transmission in hospital infection, the authors observed the effects of UV-254 nm light on air contaminants in the intensive care unit by performing colony counts and Gram stain. The mechanism of action of UV-254 nm light on air contaminants is known to be the destruction of the microbial genetic material such as RNA and/or DNA. The results of reducing the air contaminants through the UV-254 nm light in the intensive care unit show the destruction of a broad spectrum of pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms as follows: 1) The UV-254 nm light was most effective in crowded conditions of the intensive care unit. 2) The effect was begun from one hour after exposure of the UV-254 nm light device, and low colony counts were maintained constantly up to the 12th day. 3) Among the microorganisms, the device especially reduced the colony counts of staphylococcus species. |
| Key Words:
UV-254nm light; Air contaminant; Hospital infection |
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