Highlight
• Infectious outbreaks in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) significantly impact older adults, with high hospitalization and mortality rates due to respiratory viruses.
• Airborne transmission is a key but inadequately addressed route of respiratory virus spread in LTCFs.
• This large, multicenter randomized clinical trial tested whether germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) light in common areas reduces the incidence of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in older adults residing in LTCFs.
• While the primary outcome showed no significant reduction in ARI rates per treatment cycle with GUV, secondary time-series analysis demonstrated a modest but statistically significant overall decline in ARI numbers during intervention periods.
• GUV may serve as a complementary approach to existing infection control practices in LTCFs.
