In that regard, the World Health Organization has reiterated the importance of using this type of disinfection after the adoption of the standard protocol for sanitizing hospital rooms, but, during the COVID- pandemic, the use of UVC radiation was also proposed immediately after the patient has been discharged in order to reduce the risk of the cleaning staff being infected, who can then safely apply the standard protocol [

In our study, we evaluated the efficacy of the UV-C treatment only on the reduction in mesophilic growth that mainly represents human contamination, but not on specific pathogens of interest; however, the reduction was very significant, suggesting that this system can easily eliminate pathogens as well. We have previously demonstrated that the adoption of an automated UV-C-disinfection robot in the enhancement of SOP in high-risk settings was successful in reducing pathogens on high-touch surfaces, improving the patient&#x;s safety [

In this hospital, cleaning services were outsourced. According to the contract and the cleaning and disinfection standard operating protocol (SOP), during terminal disinfection, the housekeeping staff applied a chlorine-based detergent, Antisapril Detergent %, Angelini, followed by a chlorine-based disinfectant (Deornet Clor (COSÌ, Forlì-Cesena, Italy), active chlorine mgr/L) on furniture surfaces and electromedical devices.

The UV-C disinfection robot (Mediland Enterprise Corporation, Taoyuan City, Taiwan) uses amalgam lamps (UV lamp NNI / XL Niederdruck VUV Strahler) and protective reflector technology to generate high-energy, broad-spectrum ultraviolet light (UV-C &#x; nm). The manufacturer of the lamps declares in the technical data sheet that the lamps have a filter that blocks radiation between &#x; nm, eliminating the possibility of producing ozone as a by-product of UV-C radiation. The UV-C device uses min disinfection cycles and multiple positions with minimal distances from high-touch surfaces. Due to the use of high-intensity UV-C radiation, the device must operate in unoccupied rooms. There are multi-motion sensors that shut off the device if any movement is detected inside the room being disinfected or if the door is accidentally opened. When the robot operates in accordance with these procedures, the manufacturer declares that the amalgam lamps produce no ozone gas and leave no toxic residues.

Improving the cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces is one of the core components of reducing healthcare-associated infections. The effectiveness of an enhanced protocol applying UV-C irradiation for terminal room disinfection between two successive patients was evaluated. Twenty high-touch surfaces in different critical areas were sampled according to ISO -, both immediately pre- and post-cleaning and disinfection standard operating protocol (SOP) and after UV-C disinfection ( sampling sites in each condition, in total). Dosimeters were applied at the sites to assess the dose emitted. A total of .% (/) of the sampling sites tested after SOP were positive, whereas only .% (/) were positive after UV-C. According to the national hygienic standards for health-care setting, .% (/) resulted in being non-compliant after SOP and only .% (/) were non-compliant after UV-C disinfection. Operation theaters was the setting that resulted in being less compliant with the standard limit (&#x; colony-forming unit/ cm