Potent Activity of a High Concentration of Chemical Ozone against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Abstract

The culture exposure to a high level of O₃ inhibited the growth of all bacterial strains tested with a statistically significant reduction in colony count compared to the control group. The cell viability of <i>S. aureus</i> (MRSA) (99.6%) and <i>P. aeruginosa</i> (XDR) (29.2%) was reduced considerably, and SEM showed damage to bacteria after O₃ treatment Conclusion: The impact of HAIs can be easily dampened by the widespread use of ozone in ICUs. This product usually degrades into molecular oxygen and has a low toxicity compared to other sanitization products. However, high doses of ozone were able to interfere with the growth of all strains studied, evidencing that ozone-based decontamination approaches may represent the future of hospital cleaning methods.