Study Finds UV Lamps Eliminate 99% of Bacteria on Hospital Keyboards

Ultraviolet light may be the best solution to keep your facility’s high-touch areas– like computer mice and keyboards–free of harmful bacteria.

In a recent study, researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago installed UV-C lamps over the keyboards and mice in the intensive care unit to see if they would be effective in killing infection-causing bioburden.

Before testing their theory, the research team first established a baseline of the more than 200 keyboards in the ICU. Roughly 95 percent of the 203 keyboards tested positive for strains of bacteria associated with patient infections including Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Pasteurella, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter and Enterobacter.

The same sample of keyboards were exposed to UV-C lamps and tested again for bacteria. Ninety-four percent tested sterile. Six of the 13 keyboards that tested positive for bacterial growth only had a single colony-forming unit (CFU) of the bacteria. Researchers concluded that the UV-C lamps reduced the presence of bacteria by more than 99 percent.

"The UV lamp effectively decontaminates keyboards with minimal interruption and low UV exposure. Further studies are required to determine reduction of HAI transmission with use of these devices," the study’s authors write.

To learn more, read the study abstract.