UV-C Disinfection Light: What Is It And Why Are Healthcare Practitioners Using It For Infection Control?

UV-C light is germicidal, meaning that it has the ability to destroy pathogens including bacteria and viruses. UV-C light accomplishes this feat by deactivating the pathogens’ DNA, and thus destroying their ability to multiply. There are some challenges to using UV-C Light for disinfection, however. UV-C Light’s effectiveness is directly related to proximity and exposure time. Additionally, UV-C Light is subject to shadowing, requiring effective UV disinfection to be direct and unobstructed. Still, UV-C Light is being implemented in an increasing number of infection control devices designed to disinfect everything from cell phones to entire rooms. 


Effective UV-C cleaning systems use high intensity UV-C Light to achieve a Log 3 to Log 6 (99.9%-99.9999%) reduction in most major pathogens including MRSA, VRE, MDR-gram negative, norovirus and C.diff spores. Today, Healthcare Infection Control Practitioners are using a variety of UV-C Light solutions to protect against dangerous Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI’s) which affect as many as 2 million US hospital patients every year. 


Some healthcare UV-C Light solutions focus on disinfecting common touch surfaces such as cell phones, tablet computers and computer keyboards. Other solutions including UV-C Robots are used to disinfect entire rooms. Emerging technology in UV systems includes the recent introduction of reliable UV-C LED lights. The benefit of UV-C LED is their low power and lack of heat generation as compared to high intensity UV-C florescent bulbs. Today, UV-C Light can be an important part of a hospital’s infection control protocols. As UV-C Light technology continues to improve and costs come down, it is likely that we will see the development of more devices using UV-C Light for effective cleaning and disinfection.