This study was authored by Pedro G. Vianna, DrPh; Charles R. Dale Jr.; Sarah Simmons, DrPh; Mark Stibich, PhD, MHS; and Dr. Carmelo M. Licitra. Vianna and Licitra collected data and contributed to manuscript preparation. Dale, Stibich and Simmons, all Xenex employees, participated in statistical analysis and contributed to the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Infection rates decreased significantly at Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital after the hospital began using Xenex’s xenon light Germ-Zapping Robots for room disinfection, according to a new peer-reviewed study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC). This is the eighth peer-reviewed study that demonstrates how a hospital successfully reduced its infection rates after utilizing Xenex Disinfection Services’ unique Xenon Full-Spectrum Disinfection technology to disinfect its rooms.  Xenex Germ-Zapping Robots have been credited for helping healthcare facilities in the U.S. decrease their Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Clostridium difficile (C.diff) and surgical site infection rates by more than 50, 70 and 100 percent respectively.

According to the new AJIC study, South Seminole Hospital reported a 61 percent reduction in combined Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), MRSA and C.diff infection rates in its Intensive Care Unit (ICU), an 87 percent reduction in its ICU VRE infection rate, and a 29 percent reduction facility-wide in combined VRE, MRSA and C. diff infection rates after it began using Xenex’s xenon light technology. The hospital estimates that it saved $730,000 based on the number of C.diff and VRE infections that were avoided.

The study titled “Impact of pulsed xenon ultraviolet light on hospital-acquired infection (HAI) rates in a community hospital” analyzed the efficacy of pulsed xenon light in two different deployment strategies. The difference in infection rate reduction was associated with the two different utilization strategies, which indicates best practices for pulsed xenon disinfection. ICU discharges and transfers were disinfected with Xenex Germ-Zapping Robots with a goal of all terminal cleans. As a result, the combined VRE, MRSA and C.diff infection rates decreased 61 percent. Non-ICU discharges and transfers were disinfected with Xenex robots for C. diff cases only, resulting in a 29 percent decrease in VRE, MRSA and C.diff infection rates facility wide.

 “This is an exciting study because it demonstrates best practices for pulsed xenon automated disinfection,” said Dr. Mark Stibich, Chief Scientific Officer at Xenex. “Previous studies have shown that the number of rooms disinfected with the Xenex robot correlates to the infection rate reduction the hospital will experience. This study shows that it’s more effective to use the Xenex robot to disinfect as many rooms as possible versus only disinfecting rooms where patients are known to have an infection. Our pulsed xenon robot works in a five -minute disinfection cycle, so they are able to quickly disinfect multiple rooms per day in a facility – leading to dramatic reductions in infection rates.”