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TOPLINE:

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) light appliances in long-term care facilities for older adults did not significantly reduce acute respiratory infection rates within study cycles but did show a significant reduction in weekly infections rate over time.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a multicenter, randomized trial to assess whether GUV appliances could reduce the incidence of airborne acute respiratory infections in four long-term care facilities for older adults in Australia.
• The facilities were divided into eight zones, representing 211,952 bed-days. The zones were assigned to active GUV or inactive (control) conditions for 6 weeks, followed by a 2-week washout, a crossover, and another 2-week washout, spanning a total of 110 weeks.
• The primary outcome measure was the incidence rate of acute respiratory infections for each zone during each cycle.

TAKEAWAY:

• Over the course of the study, 596 acute respiratory infections were diagnosed, including 227 during intervention periods and 248 during control periods.
• The incidence of acute respiratory infections did not differ significantly between the control group (4.17 infections per zone per cycle; 95% CI, 2.43-5.91) and the GUV group (3.81 infections per zone per cycle; 95% CI, 2.21-5.41), with an incidence rate ratio of 0.91 (P = .33).
• However, trends evaluating infections per week revealed significantly fewer infections in the GUV group (2.29 per week; 95% CI, 2.06-2.51) than in the control group (2.61 per week; P = .004).

IN PRACTICE:

According to the study authors, “…this trial demonstrated the effectiveness of an adjunct infection control strategy to address airborne pathogen transmission in a healthcare setting.”

“For the present, clearer data are needed to justify the expense and complexity of adding air cleaning technologies to clinical spaces that already meet contemporary ventilation standards for healthcare,” the author of a linked commentary wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Andrew P. Shoubridge, PhD, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia. It was published online on July 28, 2025, in JAMA Internal Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

The COVID-19 pandemic and continuously changing public health measures limited data for power calculations, restricted data collection, and strained diagnostic services reducing confirmation. Unrestricted movement of residents and staff between intervention and control zones could have affected pathogen transmission patterns.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received support from a Medical Research Future Fund grant from the Australian Government. Several authors reported receiving grants from various organizations and pharmaceutical companies.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.