The effects of far‐ UVC irradiation on the presence and concentration of ESKAPEE pathogens on hospital surfaces: Study protocol for a multi‐site, double‐blinded randomized controlled trial in La Paz, Bolivia

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a known and growing problem worldwide, including those caused by ESKAPEE pathogens: Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp., and Escherichia coli. Far-UVC is a novel disinfection method that inactivates pathogenic microbes in air and on surfaces, but is safe for use in occupied spaces. We will implement a multi-site, double-blinded, clustered randomized controlled trial (cRCT) in two hospitals with a high burden of ESKAPEE pathogens. Intervention spaces will receive functioning far-UVC lamps and control arm spaces will receive visually identical lamps that do not emit UV light (shams), randomly allocated to 10 sites per arm per hospital. We will collect environmental samples (air and surface swabs) and measure ESKAPEE pathogens via culture and sequencing in longitudinal monitoring. We hypothesize that the prevalence of ESKAPEE pathogens on intervention site surfaces will be reduced, compared with control arm surfaces.