Duke University to Study HAI Reduction Using Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfection

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $2 million to Duke University Prevention Epicenter as part of its program to conduct innovative research in the science of preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), with the goal of saving lives in healthcare settings. The Tru-D germicidal disinfection system was selected by Duke University after successful internal trials and published third-party data provided reliable, repeatable results. Five Tru-D instruments (Lumalier Corporation) will be deployed during the first two years of the grant.

CDC's Prevention Epicenters (PE) Program is a unique research program in which CDC's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) collaborates with academic investigators to conduct innovative infection control and prevention research. CDC director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, says, "With Prevention Epicenters, we can expand our current knowledge and save even more lives as we work toward our goal of eliminating HAIs." With the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens, strategies to reduce healthcare-associated infections are critical.

John Jernigan, MD, MS, director of CDC's Office of HAI Prevention Research and Evaluation, notes, "During the past decade, some of our biggest breakthroughs in healthcare infection prevention have been rooted in research of the Prevention Epicenter program, and we look forward to future advances." The Prevention Epicenter program helps uncover and implement solutions to help prevent infections, such as Tru-D Rapid Room Disinfection.

Published data indicate that Tru-D treatment eliminates environmental pathogens that cause MRSA, VRE, Acinetobactor, C. diff, and other acquired infections. Tru-D sensor technology uniquely "reads" the disinfection dynamics of each room to deliver a measured, lethal dose of germicidal energy within the room, including shadowed areas. Actual, real-time disinfection progress is displayed on a remote LCD screen.

"Epicenter funding is highly competitive. We selected Tru-D because its automated system is proven to significantly reduce environmental pathogens and eliminate human error in the disinfection process. The logical next step is to study the impact of a thoroughly disinfected patient environment in the prevention of HAIs," says Daniel Sexton, MD, medical director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON).

The PE Program has resulted in more than 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals on a variety of HAI prevention topics.