Ultraviolet-C irradiation for prevention of central venous catheter-related infections: An in vitro study

Central venous catheters (CVC) are widely used in the United States and are associated with 250 000 to 500 000 CVC-related infections in hospitals annually. We used a catheter made from ultraviolet-C (UVC) transmissive material to test whether delivery of UVC from the lumen would allow inactivation of microorganisms on the outer surface of CVC. When the catheter was exposed to UVC irradiation from a cold cathode fluorescent lamp inside the catheter lumen at a radiant exposure of 3.6 mJ cm^-2, more than 6-log₁₀ of drug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria adhered to the outer surface of the catheter were inactivated. Three to 7-log₁₀ of drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and 2.80-log₁₀ of fungi were inactivated at a radiant exposure of 11 mJ cm^-2. UVC irradiation also offered a highly selective inactivation of bacteria over keratinocytes under exactly comparable conditions. After 11 mJ cm^-2 UVC light had been delivered, over 6-log₁₀ of bacteria were inactivated while the viability loss of the keratinocytes was only about 57%.