Airborne and aerosol transmission of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria pose a major challenge in healthcare environments. This study evaluated the performance of an electron-beam irradiation (EBI) system for inactivating airborne MDR bacteria under controlled laboratory conditions.
To perform this assessment, clinical isolates of MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were aerosolized to simulate realistic airborne transmission and subsequently introduced into the EBI system.
Downstream bacterial aerosols were collected using liquid impingers and quantified by culture-based enumeration.