Bug Zapper: How A New Machine Snuffs Killer Bacteria With Ultraviolet Blasts

Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass. treats 40,000 emergency room patients a year. In 2010, 33 people admitted for surgery or other ailments caught a superbug called Clostridium difficile, or C. diff. Six died and three others had their colons removed. Cooley has company: Last month Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Ontario, Canada got slapped with a $50 million class action after a C. diff outbreak killed 50. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect 100,000 patients a year, and they are notoriously hard to fight. One study by Dr. Roy Chemaly, head of infection control at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, found that even after swabbing with bleach, alcohol and other biocides, 8% of high-touch surfaces (tray tables, door handles, remote controls) in hospitals still test positive for superbugs.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/11/02/bug-zapper-how-a-new-machine-snuffs-killer-bacteria-with-ultraviolet-blasts/