Evaluation of the efficacy of the automatic ozone decontamination device in a real-life setting of an intravitreal injection room

TL;DR

This study tested an ozone system to disinfect a room used for eye injections, finding it significantly reduced bacteria and fungi in the air and on surfaces.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of automated ozone decontamination in reducing microbial load in a real-world clinical setting.

Findings

Ozonation reduced bacterial load by up to 96% and fungal load by up to 100% in the injection room.

Significant microbial reductions were observed 24 hours after ozone treatment.

Automated ozonation may complement routine cleaning to maintain low environmental bioburden.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an ozonation system for disinfecting intravitreal injection rooms.

A prospective intervention pilot study was conducted with a ‘before-and-after’ design.

The study was conducted in an intravitreal injection room at Hospital de Manises.

Air and surface samples were taken before and after ozonation using a remote-controlled ozonation system. The room was treated with ozone at a concentration of 9–10 ppm for 20 min. Measurements were taken immediately after, 12 h, and 24 h post ozonation. Statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

At 24 h post ozonation, significant reductions in microbial load were observed: in the centre of the room, the bacterial load reduced from >250 colony-forming units (cfu) to 10 cfu (96%) and fungi from 14 cfu to <1 cfu (93.1%) (P < 0.05); in the diffuser, the bacterial load reduced from 61 cfu to 24 cfu (60.7%) and fungi from 6 cfu to <1 cfu (100%) (P < 0.05) and on the procedure chair, the bacterial load reduced from 51 cfu to 7 cfu (86.3%) and fungi from 6 cfu to 3 cfu (50%) (P < 0.05).

In a dedicated intravitreal injection room, a remotely controlled ozonation cycle at 9–10 ppm for 20 min was associated with substantial short-term reductions in airborne and selected surface microbial load under unoccupied conditions. Automated ozonation may complement routine cleaning and ventilation to maintain low environmental bioburden; its clinical impact remains to be determined.

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