Rome Fiumicino is the first airport in the world to install Biovitae bactericidal lighting devices, able to reduce the risk of infection for workers and passengers and limit the phenomena of antibiotic resistance, at its first aid centre (reception room, emergency medical examination room with operating table, examination report room, patient hospitalisation room)
Biovitae is the only patented LED technology that, thanks to a combination of light frequencies, kills all bacteria (Gram+, Gram-, spores, mould and fungi) and sanitises the environment without making it sterile and without, therefore, weakening the immune system.
Biovitae is an LED light that, unlike UV, is completely safe for humans and does not require special protective measures.
Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest health emergencies of our time.
Of the 33 thousand deaths that happen each year in the EU due to infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, more than ten thousand are registered in Italy. A negative track record, according to data provided by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Italian National Institute of Health – ISS) during the World Antibiotic Awareness Week. Respecting hygiene standards and identifying preventive actions are therefore increasingly important.
With the installation of Biovitae, the Aeroporti di Roma company has decided to embark on a serious path in the fight against infection by taking on board the alarm raised by researchers of the PANDHUB project, carried out by VTT (Technical Research Centre) – Finland’s leading public research centre – in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, among others, and launched in November 2014 to assess the risks of spreading diseases within transport hubs around the world. The final objective of the three-year research project, financed with €3.1 million of European Funds, is to develop a prevention model and a plan of action in the event of a crisis.
Today, at Rome Fiumicino, the brilliant results of this experiment are being introduced.
“Thanks to the Biovitae technology,” declared CEO of Adr, Ugo de Carolis, “the reduction of the bacterial load in the test rooms was more than 60%, and the reduction in spaces with good bacterial hygiene almost doubled, going from 42% to 83%. From today we can consider the first aid centre at Fiumicino airport as a place where the microbiological risk for passengers and health workers is substantially eliminated”.
“We are very pleased that a 100% Italian patent has been adopted by ADR that, as the first airport in the world to do so, understood the importance of doing something concrete for the fight against infections and antibiotic resistance. I hope that this is the first step of a continuous collaboration and that this virtuous path can be a stimulus for airports all over the world,” stated Mauro Pantaleo, CEO of P&P Patents and Technologies, the company holding the patent.
ADR is evaluating the opportunities of trialling the product within the Terminals and in the passenger boarding and disembarkation areas.
