A crossover study design was used in an cute care medical ward with 19 beds at a large university hospital. Fourteen types of frequent-touch items made of copper alloy were installed in various locations on an acute care medical ward. These included door handles and push plates, toilet seats and flush handles, grab rails, light switches and pull cord toggles, sockets, overbed tables, dressing trolleys, commodes, taps, and sink fittings. The study surfaces and those of equivalent standard items were sampled once weekly for 24 weeks
The result? Microorganisms were recovered from both types of surfaces; however, significantly fewer copper surfaces were contaminated with vancomycin-resistant enterococci, MRSA, and coliforms, compared with standard surfaces.
We have a study, to be published next week, on a prospective trial of antimicrobial scrubs in the ICU. For a sneak peak at our manuscript click here. We too discovered that an antimicrobial textile, in this case study scrubs, can decrease the bioburden of MRSA.
So, although the bioburden of hospital pathogens may be impacted, no one has yet proven that antimicrobial textiles can actually decrease the rates of hospital acquired infections.
That would be the Holy Grail of antimicrobial textile research.
