Antimicrobial copper alloys decreased bacteria on stethoscope surfaces

Abstract

Stethoscope surfaces fabricated with AMCus were consistently found to harbor fewer bacteria.

Reduction of bacterial burden by copper alloys on high-touch athletic center surfaces

“…Our findings suggest that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-registered copper alloys are able to reduce bacterial burdens by 94%, confirming previous observations on the antimicrobial properties of copper. 18,31,32 Assessing the bacterial burden on equipment surfaces allows athletic centers to determine which pieces of equipment afford more attention in hygiene maintenance. Across all sampled equipment, the average concentration of bacteria recovered from surfaces was highest for control dumbbells, with a mean concentration of 10,360 CFU/100 cm 2 ( Table 1).…”

Contact killing and antimicrobial properties of copper

“…; Schmidt et al . ). To test its antimicrobial surface activity, researchers mostly use coupons with varying concentrations of copper.…”

Methods of Disinfecting Stethoscopes: Systematic Review

“…Moreover, 70 studies were commentaries or full articles not in line with the aim of the study and we have excluded them after a careful examination of the abstracts and of the full texts. Finally, we detected 17 publications [3,5,6,9,11,13,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Among these, we included four letters to the editor (Figure 1).…”

“…With regards to physical methods of disinfection, Schmidt et al [17] assessed the efficacy of antimicrobial copper stethoscope surfaces to reduce the bacterial concentration on the diaphragm, binaural tube and ear tubes. They collected stethoscopes from 21 clinical providers (14 health care providers of Paediatric Emergency Division (PedsED) and seven of an adult medical intensive care unit).…”