Dry biofilms on polystyrene surfaces: the role of oxidative treatments for their mitigation

Candida auris and Staphylococcus aureus are associated with a wide range of infections, as they exhibit multidrug resistance – a growing health concern. In this study, gaseous ozone, and ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiation are applied as infection control measures to inactivate dry biofilms of these organisms on polystyrene surfaces. The dosages utilised herein are 1000 and 3000 ppm.min for ozone and 2864 and 11592 mJ.cm⁻² for UVC. Both organisms showed an increased sensitivity to UVC relative to ozone exposure in a bespoke decontamination chamber. While complete inactivation of both organisms (>7.5 CFU log) was realized after 60 mins of UVC application, this could not be achieved with ozonation for the same duration. However, a combined application of ozone and UVC yielded complete inactivation in only 20 mins. For both treatment methods, it was observed that dry biofilms of S. aureus were more difficult to inactivate than dry biofilms of C. auris. Compared to dry biofilms of C. auris, micrographs of wet C. auris biofilms revealed the presence of an abundance of extracellular material after treatments. Interestingly, wet biofilms were more difficult to inactivate than dry biofilms. These insights are crucial to preventing recalcitrant and recurrent infections via contact with contaminated polymeric surfaces.