Reduction of bacterial contamination in a healthcare environment by silver antimicrobial technology

Abstract

This paper describes a pilot study undertaken in a major acute trust investigating reduction of bacterial contamination in a healthcare environment attributable to the use of silver antimicrobial (BioCote®) technology. The four month study assessed the impact of various BioCote®-treated products on the counts of viable bacteria cultured from the treated environment compared to a control. A mean reduction in bacterial counts of 95.8% was demonstrated on the BioCote®treated surfaces compared with untreated surfaces. A mean reduction of 43.5% was demonstrated on untreated products positioned in the same environment as BioCote®-treated products compared with control untreated products. This suggests decontamination is not limited to treated materials but can extend to the wider environment because of the presence of antimicrobial materials. In the light of increasing evidence implicating the role of the environment in healthcare acquired infection, the potential of BioCote®-treated products to provide an additional infection control mechanism is highlighted.

Universal decontamination of hospital surfaces in an occupied inpatient room with a continuous 405 nm light source

“…20 Other technologies include products with antimicrobial coatings such as silver, but these do not achieve the universal decontamination effect seen with HINS-light EDS. 21,22 All three studies demonstrated a decrease in bacterial bio-burden following HINS-light EDS use of between two and seven days, with a cumulative effect clearly demonstrated in the study in Patient C's room: A 53 % decrease after 2 days; 69 % decrease after four days; and 86 % after seven days.…”

Controlling Hospital-Acquired Infection: Focus on the Role of the Environment and New Technologies for Decontamination

“…They therefore rely on additional diffusible antimicrobials, such as rifampin, to which microbes may also become resistant. Silver has been incorporated into various products, including coatings and textiles (221)(222)(223). Some coatings demonstrate good antibacterial activity against planktonic Staphylococcus epidermidis and A. baumannii and have been used to inhibit environmental contamination as well as colonization of implanted medical catheters and other devices (223).…”

Dos and don’ts for hospital cleaning

“…Bioactive surfaces include heavy metals (or their derivatives) such as copper, zinc, silver or titanium, or biocides and phages [102,[104][105][106]. There are electrostatic and inhibitory surfaces that repel microbial adhesion; and 'self-cleaning' coatings that rely upon hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties [102,107].…”