Confirmation of radiant catalytic ionization efficacy for airborne SARS-CoV-2 elimination indoors using "COVID19 traps"

• Main Authors: Esteban Orenes-Piñero (Author), Antonio Moreno-Docón (Author), Joana Candela-González (Author), Diana Navas-Carrillo (Author), Juan A. Ortega-García (Author), Pablo Ramírez (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Radiant catalytic ionization (RCI) is a novel technology that uses the appropriate wavelength (240‐260 nm) and the phenomenon of photo-oxidation leading to permanent removal of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Here, two analyses were performed. The first of them was a complete analysis of environmental biosecurity in a hospital environment. The second one was a longitudinal study with 40 patients with confirmed COVID19 and high viral load to assess the efficacy of RCI technology eliminating airborne SARS-CoV-2 indoors. A significant decrease in the number of bacteria and fungi colony-forming units (CFUs) was found in rooms with RCI when compared with rooms without it (p=0.03 for both of them). In the second part of the study, 16 samples out of 40 (40%) were positives when RCI technology was absent; whereas, these samples were negative when the equipment was on. Incidence rates (IR) with their Poisson 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were calculated as the number of positive tests with the purifier or without it, showing an IR difference of 48.5% [CI(15.9‐81), p=0.004]. Furthermore, the IR ratio was calculated obtaining a value of 3.3, confirming that RCI diminished more than 3-fold the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 in the air of the patients' rooms, thus laying the first stone in the fight for prevention of SARS-CoV-2 dissemination indoors.

Item Description

1876-0341
10.1016/j.jiph.2022.11.014