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

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.