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Using ultraviolet light to reduce COVID-19 in aged care homes (ELUCIDAR study)

Ultraviolet light (of the UV-C wavelength) has been used for decades to prevent tuberculosis by disinfecting the air in the unoccupied zone. UV-C light has also been shown in laboratory studies to successfully inactivate bacteria and viruses. The fixtures/ technology used are called upper room germicidal ultraviolet (UR-GUV) fixtures.

This study is called 'Effectiveness of germicidal ultraviolet Light in an Upper room Configuration In Decreasing COVID-19 in Aged-care Residential facilities’ or ELUCIDAR, and will test whether UR-GUV can reduce COVID-19 infection in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs).

The ELUCIDAR study started in November 2024 and will run for 12 months in RACFs across Victoria, Australia.

This study is a cluster-randomised controlled trial, where the ‘clusters’ are residential aged care facilities, which will be randomised to either a control or intervention group. This design allows the study team to collect and compare the outcome data between the 2 groups of RACFs and assess the real-world effectiveness of UR-GUV.

Who is conducting this study

The ELUCIDAR study is funded and sponsored by the Victorian Department of Health (DH) and implemented by DH’s GUV Project Team in collaboration with the GUV-research consortium (GUV-RC). The GUV-RC is led by the Burnet Institute with the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Queensland University of Technology.

What is this study trying to evaluate

Does UV-C light reduce COVID-19 transmission in the real-world setting?This light has been shown in laboratory studies to successfully inactivate bacteria and viruses.

The main aim of this study is to measure the rate of COVID-19 infection in residents of aged care facilities that use standard infection control and prevention measures, comparing those with UR-GUV installed to those without. The study also aims to determine the effectiveness of this intervention in the real-world setting, including optimal installation and delivery of this technology.

The ELUCIDAR study will also aim to:

measure infections caused by influenza and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) among residents and staff

measure hospitalisations and deaths caused by COVID-19, influenza and RSV

determine the acceptability and feasibility of UR-GUV operation in residential aged care facilities

determine the cost-effectiveness of UR-GUV in residential aged care facilities.

How will the study test the effectiveness of UV-C light

The study recruited 61 RACFs that have 75 operational beds or more. The RACFs are in metropolitan Melbourne or Greater Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

The facilities were randomly put into 2 groups:

RACFs that have UR-GUV fixtures (which are commercially available) installed on the ceilings of common areas. This is the intervention group.

RACFs that have no UR-GUV fixtures installed. This is the control group.

The UR-GUV fixtures have been installed in the common areas in 30 RACFs and will remain turned on 24hrs a day for the duration of the study.

Both groups will continue to follow the current standards for infection prevention as per the Victorian Department of Health guidelines.

You can learn more about the use of germicidal ultraviolet light from the Victorian Department of Health.

Study registration and approval

The Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee has granted the ELUCIDAR study human research ethics approval.

This study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ANZCTR – Registration (ACTRN12624000791538), an approved World Health Organization registry.

Learn more about ELUCIDAR

Learn more about this study through the Victorian Department of Health.

ELUCIDAR study

Publications

13 Jan 2025

ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION VS AIR FILTRATION TO MITIGATE VIRUS LADEN AEROSOL IN AN OCCUPIED CLINICAL ROOM

Journal of Hazardous Materials

S. S. Majumdar

Open access

Partners

Funding partners

Victorian Department of Health

Collaborators

University of Melbourne
Monash University
Queensland University of Technology

Project contacts

Main contact

Group mailbox

Clean Indoor Air team

cleanindoorair@burnet.edu.au

Health themes

Projects

Published research

Careers

Study at Burnet

About us

Where we work

Using ultraviolet light to reduce COVID-19 in aged care homes (ELUCIDAR study)

Who is conducting this study

What is this study trying to evaluate

How will the study test the effectiveness of UV-C light

Study registration and approval

Learn more about ELUCIDAR

Publications

ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION VS AIR FILTRATION TO MITIGATE VIRUS LADEN AEROSOL IN AN OCCUPIED CLINICAL ROOM

Partners

Funding partners

Collaborators

Project contacts

Main contact

Clean Indoor Air team

Project team

Associate Professor Suman Majumdar

Co-Principal Investigator

Dr Michelle Delaire

Co-Principal Investigator

Victorian Department of Health

Professor Helen Cox

Co-Investigator

Dr Rachel Sacks-Davis

Co-Investigator

Professor Jason Monty

Co-Investigator

University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Andrew Stewardson

Co-Investigator

Alfred Health; Monash Univesity

Dr Simon Joosten

Co-Investigator

Monash Health

Dr James McMahon

Co-Investigator

Alfred Hospital; Monash University

Dr David Lister

Co-Investigator

Victorian Department of Health

Dr Vinay Menon

Co-Investigator

Victorian Department of Health

Professor Lidia Morawska

Co-Investigator

Queensland University of Technology

Guy Marks

Co-Investigator

Christabelle Adjoyan

Project Director, Pathway to Clean Indoor Air

Ryan Barwood

Executive General Manager, Know-C19

Elizabeth Dang

Program Manager

Dr Thi Nguyen

Data Scientist

Long Nguyen

Data Manager

Emma Pakula

Senior Policy and Research Fellow, COVID and Health Emergencies

Associate Professor Alisa Pedrana

Senior Research Fellow; Deputy Discipline Head, Public Health; Eliminate Hepatitis C Australia Coordinator

Associate Professor Nick Scott

Head, Modelling and Biostatistics

Tim Spelman

Biostatistician

Professor Mark A Stoové

Head of Public Health

Daniel West

Deputy Technical Director

Dr Anna Wilkinson

Senior Research Fellow

Logan Wu

Data and Systems Manager