A new paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine by members of the team, “Effect of germicidal UV light on the incidence of acute respiratory infection in long-term aged care”.
Infectious outbreaks of respiratory viruses within long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are associated with high rates of hospitalization and death. Despite evidence that airborne transmission contributes substantially to the spread of respiratory viruses within residential care for older adults, this mode of transmission has been largely unaddressed by existing infection control practices. The aim of this paper is to determine whether germicidal UV (GUV) appliances reduce acute respiratory infection incidence in LTCFs.
Key Points from the study:
👉 Question: Can germicidal UV light (GUV) appliances in common spaces reduce the incidence of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in long-term care facilities for older adults?
👉 Findings: In this randomized clinical trial that recorded 596 infections over 211 952 bed-days, GUV appliances did not result in a significant difference in the incidence rate per zone per cycle. When modeling ARIs across all cycles of the study, GUV appliances significantly reduced infections by 0.319 infections per week, equating to a 12.2% difference.
👉 Meaning: The trial findings suggest that GUV appliances did not reduce the incidence rate of ARIs within study cycles but did significantly reduce the total numbers of ARIs among older adult residents of long-term care facilities.
Read the paper ➡️: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.3388
