For years, UVA i.e., ultraviolet light has been used to kill pathogens like H1N1 influenza and many other equally potent viruses. Thus the question that arises is whether UV radiation is enough to combat SARS-CoV-2, the virus that is the root of the coronavirus pandemic? While the answer is yes, the application of the same is not easy.

When used to kill viruses, especially something like the coronavirus, the kind, intensity, and dosage of UV are paramount, which means it can’t be administered by just anyone- it is best to trust the execution to trained professionals. This means that all at-home UV-light devices that claim to destroy SARS-CoV-2 are not completely safe.

While there are three types of UV radiations, but the only one that manages to reach Earth is the ultraviolet light, that too the shortest wavelength but the highest energy, and can be used as a disinfectant.

"UVC has been used for years, it's not new," said Indermeet Kohli, a physicist studying photomedicine in dermatology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. She also shared that UVC, at a specific wavelength of 254 nanometers, has been used in the past to render H1N1 influenza and other coronaviruses like SARS-CoVand Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) inactive.

UVC-254 has been found to cause lesions in DNA and RNA and can damage them to the point that they can’t replicate, which in turn, kills or inactivates a microorganism or virus.

In fact, Kohli and her colleagues have confirmed that UVC also eliminates SARS-CoV-2. Their study concerning the same was published on June 26 to the preprint database medRxiv. from Kohli's colleagues awaiting peer review now confirms that UVC also eliminates SARS-CoV-2.

"The data that backs up this technology, the ease of use, and the non-contact nature" of UVC, according to Kohli, makes it a very useful tool against the pandemic. But the key here is to be critically accurate as UVC, which can irrevocably damage DNA, is very dangerous to human skin and eyes. Because of this, Kohli cautioned that UVC disinfection technologies should be used and monitored by medical facilities or should be evaluated first to check its efficacy and safety levels.

Electron Microscopy of Coronavirus
This is an Electron Microscopy of Coronavirus. Murphy Medical Associates

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