Medical Facility Infection Control with Copper Clean™
This year, more than ever, has cast a light on the importance of infection control within our society. For many, it seems that actively combating the transmission of disease due to microorganisms is a novel concept, but for infection control specialists the battle against disease transmission has been ongoing for decades.
In recent years, efforts from the infection control community have had a significant impact on lowering the rates of hospital acquired infections (HAI). And yet, even with advances in patient care, sanitation procedure, and component design, at any given time about one in ever 31 patients undergoing hospital care has at least one healthcare-associated infection. (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Copper Clean™ Antimicrobial Patches provide infection control specialists and hospital administrators another tool to inhibit the presence and potential transmission of microbes that cause HAI. By outfitting surfaces with the self-sanitizing action of Copper Clean™ Surfaces, high-touch areas are continuously resisting harmful microorganisms*.
Copper alloy surfaces have been gaining traction as an additional method to help curtail HAI. When evaluating the potential of copper alloy surfaces to decrease healthcare associated infections, there are 5 questions that can be probed:
1) Do copper surfaces neutralize harmful microorganisms in laboratory settings?
2) Do healthcare components that harbor pathogens contribute to HAI's?
3) Can copper be used to reduce the microbial burden on components in a clinical setting?
4) Does a reduction in microbial load translate to a reduction in HAI's?
5) Are copper components a financially feasible tool to fight HAI's?
These questions can be answered by examining laboratory and clinical research conducted by researchers and government committees in the US.
1) Do copper surfaces neutralize harmful microorganisms in laboratory settings?
Yes. Many copper alloys have been show to neutralize dangerous microorganisms in laboratory testing. Copper Clean™ Patches hold EPA public health registrations which permit 99.9% neutralization claims against 6 of the most common microorganisms within 2 hours*, include MRSA, VRE, E. Coli, Staph. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter aerogenes. (Anderson & Michels, 2008)
2) Do healthcare components that harbor pathogens contribute to HAI's?
Yes. The microbial burden on common healthcare components has measured as well above "safe" levels of contamination in several studies. (Dancer, 2004; Lewis, Griffith, Gallo, & Weinbren, 2008; Malik, Cooper, & Griffith, 2003; Mulvey et al., 2011; Schmidt, Attaway, Sharpe, et al., 2012; White, Dancer, Robertson, & McDonald, 2008)
3) Can copper be used to reduce the microbial burden on components in a clinical setting?
Yes. A comprehensive clinical trial revealed significant microbial presence on surfaces within ICU rooms and also showed copper surfaces to provide a 83% average reduction in microbial count over the 21 month trial. (Schmidt, Attaway, Sharpe, et al., 2012)
4) Does a reduction in microbial load translate to a reduction in HAI's?
Yes. The clinical trial also found a 58% reduction in patient infection rates in rooms outfitted with copper surfaces. This finding showed a high level of statistical significance, indicated by a p-value of .013. (Salgado et al., 2013)
5) Are copper components a financially feasible tool to fight HAI's?
Yes. By retrofitting existing components with Copper Clean™ patches the initial cost can be curtailed even further, creating an estimated pay-back period of less than 1 month.
If you would like to explore the possibility of implementing Copper Clean™ surfaces in your medical facility you can contact us or purchase a Copper Clean™ Medical Facility Sample Pack below.
Anderson, D. G., & Michels, H. T. (2008). Antimicrobial regulatory efficacy testing of solid copper alloy surfaces in the USA. In P. Collery, I. Maymard, T. Thephanides, L. Khassanova, & T. Collery (Eds.), Metal ions in biology and medicine (Vol. 10, pp. 185–190). Montrouge, France: John Libbey Eurotext.
Dancer, S. J. (2004). How do we assess hospital cleaning? A proposal for microbiological standards for surface hygiene in hospitals. The Journal of Hospital Infection, 56, 10–15.
Lewis, T., Griffith, C., Gallo, M., & Weinbren, M. (2008). A modified ATP benchmark for evaluating the cleaning of some hospital environmental surfaces. The Journal of Hospital Infection, 69, 156–163. doi:http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2008.03.013
Malik, R. E., Cooper, R. A., & Griffith, C. J. (2003). Use of audit tools to evaluate the efficacy of clean- ing systems in hospitals. American Journal of Infec- tion Control, 31, 181–187.
Michels, H. T., Keevil, C. W., Salgado, C. D., & Schmidt, M. G. (2015). From laboratory research to a clinical trial: copper alloy surfaces kill bacteria and reduce hospital-acquired infections. Health Environments Research and Design Journal, 9(1), 64–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/1937586715592650
Mulvey, D., Redding, P., Robertson, C., Woodall, C., Kingsmore, P., Bedwell, D., & Dancer, S. J. (2011). Finding a benchmark for monitoring hospital cleanliness. The Journal of Hospital Infection, 77, 25–30. doi:http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2010.08.006
Schmidt, M. G., Attaway Iii, H. H., Sharpe, P. A., John, J., Sepkowitz, K. A., Morgan, A., . . . Salgado, C. D. (2012). Sustained reduction of microbial burden on common hospital surfaces through introduction of copper. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 50, 2217–2223. doi:http://doi.org/10. 1128/JCM.01032-12
Schmidt, M. G., Attaway Iii, H. H., Fairey, S. E., Steed, L. L., Michels, H. T., & Salgado, C. D. (2013). Copper continuously limits the concentration of bacteria resident on bed rails within the intensive care unit. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 34, 530–533. doi:http://doi.org/10. 1086/670224
*Laboratory testing shows that, when cleaned regularly, antimicrobial copper surfaces kill greater than 99.9% of the following bacteria within 2 hours of exposure: MRSA, VRE, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and E. coli O157:H7. Antimicrobial Copper surfaces have been shown to inhibit microbial contamination from these microorganisms, but do not necessarily prevent cross contamination or infections. Antimicrobial copper surfaces are a supplement to and not a substitute for standard infection control practices. Users must continue to follow all current infection control and sanitation practices. Antimicrobial Copper surfaces must not be coated or waxed in any way in order to be effective. The natural patina of Antimicrobial Copper does not compromise the antimicrobial capacity of the product.