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MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Apr 1 3:54pm | Replies (34)
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I found these postings by Dr. Falkinham on the Global Form connect.ntminfo.org website.
Posted 05-02-2023 12:10
The SteriPen was tested at National Jewish by Jenn Honda, one of the great, young mycobacteriologists. She and her students showed it killed NTM. I don't know about the different models and will assume they all have the same ultraviolet light dosage, so will kill NTM.
Joe Falkinham
November 28, 2022
Dear NTM Global Forum Members and Readers:
I have just reviewed the data from my lab reporting the killing of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium abscessus in the ultraviolet light bottles made by Crazy Cap. First, the method and second the results.
Method
1. Crazy Cap I and Crazy Cap Pro bottles were filled with Blacksburg tap water and their UV-cycle run following the manufacturer's directions to sterilize the water.
2. After the sterilization, the Crazy Cap I bottle was inoculated with lots of cells of a strain of Mycobacterium abscessus and the Crazy Cap Pro bottle inoculated with lots of cells of a strain of Mycobacterium abscessus.
3. Samples were collected from the two bottles and the total number of viable cells before UV-irradiation measured.
4. The sterilization cycles for the two bottles were initiated following the manufacturer's directions.
5. After completion of the bottles' UV disinfection cycles, the contents were again sampled for mycobacterial cells.
6. Samples of the UV-irradiated and inoculated water were collected from the bottles and exposed to visible light for 30 minute to determine whether the cells could be revived by photoreactivation. Visible light can reverse UV-killing as it triggers an enzyme in mycobacterial cells that repairs the damage to DNA due to UV.
Results
1. The Crazy Cap I bottle killed 99.9985 % of M. abscessus cells and the Crazy Cap Pro bottle killed 99.993 % of M. avium cells.
2. We did not observe any photoreactivation of UV-irradiated cells.
Conclusion
The Crazy Cap bottles are capable of substantial killing (greater than 4-logs) of Mycobacterium spp. and there is no worry that leaving the UV-irradiated cells in visible light will restore viability to the UV-irradiated cells. There is no need to keep the UV-irradiated water in the dark.
He also posted this paper in the library:
SteriPEN Testing Paper (SteriPEN-Testing-Paper.pdf)