Abstract
BackgroundHealthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have a major impact on public health worldwide. Particularly, hospital surfaces contaminated with bacterial pathogens are often the origin of both sporadic cases and outbreaks of HAIs. It has been demonstrated that copper surfaces reduce the microbial burden of high touch surfaces in the hospital environment. Here we report the antimicrobial characterization of a novel composite coating with embedded copper particles, named Copper Armour™.MethodsThe Copper Armour™ bactericidal activity was evaluated in in vitro assays against several bacterial pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes. Additionally, its antimicrobial properties were also evaluated in a pilot study over a nine-week period at an adult intensive care unit. For this, four high touch surfaces, including bed rails, overbed table, bedside table and IV Pole, were coated with Cooper Armour™, and its microbial burden was determined over a nine-week period.ResultsCopper Armour™ coated samples showed an in vitro reduction in bacterial burden of > 99.9% compared to control samples. Moreover, pilot study results indicate that Copper Armour™ significantly reduces the level of microbial contamination on high-touch surfaces in the hospital environment, as compared with standard surfaces.ConclusionsBased on its antimicrobial properties, Copper Armour™ is a novel self-sanitizing coating that exhibits bactericidal activity against important human pathogens and significantly reduces the microbial burden of hospital surfaces. This composite could be used as a self-sanitizing coating to complement infection control strategies in healthcare facilities.
Highlights
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have a major impact on public health worldwide
Characterization of the microstructure and chemical composition of copper ArmourTM scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of samples coated with Copper ArmourTM showed a homogenous distribution of copper particles in the methacrylate matrix (Fig. 1c)
All experiments conducted with Copper ArmourTM coated samples showed a reduction, after 1 h of contact, in bacterial burden of > 99.9% compared to control samples (Table 1)
Summary
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have a major impact on public health worldwide. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are the most frequent adverse event threatening the life of hospitalized patients worldwide [1]. HAIs have a major impact on public health, as they increase the average length of hospital stays, morbidity and mortality [2, 3], and cause a significant increase in healthcare costs [4, 5]. Medical devices and hospital surfaces contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms are often the origin of both sporadic cases and outbreaks of HAIs [2, 6, 7]. Pathogens, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp.
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