Moreover, it would be important to evaluate the advantages of implemented cleaning and disinfection protocols with the use of UV-C devices in areas hosting fragile and vulnerable patients, e.g., in intensive care units. The principal limitation is the continuous presence of people in this type of setting. For this reason, it would be worth evaluating strategies aimed at protecting the patients safety using protective devices, which may be evaluated for human security during UV-C emission at specific dosages and times.
In settings where hospital cleaning services are assigned to private sector contractors, the use of new no-touch technologies could be considered in outsourcing contracts as an improvement action in the event of non-compliance in the cleaning service. The dedicated personnel should be adequately trained not only on the cleaning protocols to be adopted but also on infection control issues, underlining the key role of cleaning procedures.
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.
Hospitalized patients security in intensive care units should be ensured using protective devices, which may be evaluated for human security during UV-C emission at specific dosages and times. Considering the lack of literature data about these possible strategies, the use of a UV-C robot in the presence of persons still represents a critical issue that may be taken into account for the development of safe and effective technologies.
Although the dose measurement system used in our study (FastCheck Mediland, Taoyuan City , Taiwan) is semi-quantitative, it allowed us to detect if the dose reached adequate values for disinfection and to repeat the application when the value was not satisfactory. However, each dose value exceeded the expected value. This demonstrates that the device was positioned correctly in order to avoid shadow areas, although it was necessary to properly place furniture and equipment to improve the irradiation of all surfaces. In the study conducted by Wong et al., the R-D Rapid Disinfector system (Steriliz, Rochester, NY, USA) was used in a tertiary care hospital to evaluate the incremental benefit of UV-C disinfection in isolation rooms after the discharge of infected patients. The employed robot used four detached sensors to directly measure the UV-C light [