Toilet flushing can contribute to disease transmission by generating aerosolized bacteria and viruses that can land on nearby surfaces or follow air currents. Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial bioaerosol loads, and bacterial counts on 2 surfaces in a bathroom with a permanently installed, automated ultraviolet C (UVC) irradiation device, were significantly lower than in a comparable bathroom without the UVC device. Permanently installed UVC lights may be a useful supplementary decontamination tool in shared patient bathrooms.
Keywords: Ultraviolet C; bathroom; bioaerosol; contact surface; environmental cleaning; toilet plume.
Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.