Hydrogen Peroxide and Ultraviolet Light for Disinfecting Surfaces in Intensive Care Units

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Infection, Hospital, Antimicrobial, Pneumonia Associated With Mechanical Ventilation, Urinary Tract Infection(UTI), Catheter Related Blood Stream Infections

In brief

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a major problem in intensive care units (ICUs), driven by environmental contamination with multidrug-resistant organisms that persist despite routine manual cleaning. While hydrogen peroxide aerosolization and ultraviolet-C light devices have shown promise in reducing surface contamination, current evidence is inconsistent, mostly derived from single-center studies, and rarely linked to patient-centered outcomes. The investigators will conduct this cluster-randomized, crossover trial in 12 Brazilian ICUs. Each ICU will sequentially implement three strategies: (1) usual surface disinfection; (2) usual surface disinfection followed by hydrogen peroxide aerosolization at 7.9% concentration, applied through a dedicated device inside a protective tent during terminal cleaning of patient beds; and (3) usual surface disinfection followed by automated ultraviolet-C irradiation, also applied under the same tent to shield adjacent occupied beds. The primary outcome will be the antimicrobial utilization, measured as daily defined doses (DDD) of antimicrobials at the ICU level per 100 patient-days, with secondary outcomes including HAI incidence rate, environmental contamination with multidrug-resistant organisms, specific HAIs incidence rate (associated-ventilator pneumonia, central-line associated bloodstream infection, and catheter-associated urinary tract infection), and ICU length of stay costs.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07233837

Run by

Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein

People needed

5000

Starts

2026-01-05

Expected to finish

2027-03-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-04-15

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• All patients aged 18 years and older who will be admitted to the participating ICUs

You may not qualify if…

• Patients under 18 years
• ICUs that use peroxide hydrogen or ultraviolet light for surface disinfection as part of their protocol

Where it is running

• Hospital Maternidade Sao Vicente De Paulo — Barbalha, Ceará, Brazil (enrolling)
• Instituto Hospital de Base — Brasília, Federal District, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital Estadual de Aparecida de Goiânia — Aparecida de Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil (enrolling)
• Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Passos — Passos, Minas Gerais, Brazil (enrolling)
• Fundo Municipal de Saúde de Maringá — Maringá, Paraná, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital da Restauração — Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital Universitário da Universidade Federal do Piauí — Teresina, Piauí, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes — Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital Geral de Caxias do Sul — Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital de Pronto Socorro de Porto Alegre — Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital Dr Leo Orsi Bernardes — Itapetininga, São Paulo, Brazil (enrolling)
• Hospital Pelópidas Silveira — Recife, Brazil (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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