Copper-touch surfaces could help prevent antibiotic resistance genes from spreading, researchers explained at the ICPIC (International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control), Geneva, Switzerland. They explained the mechanisms by which copper undermines antibiotic resistance in organisms.

Professor Bill Keevil, Head of the Microbiology Group and Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton, said:

“New Insights into the Antimicrobial Mechanisms of Copper Touch Surfaces’ observes the survival of pathogens on conventional hospital touch surfaces contributes to increasing incidence and spread of antibiotic resistance and infections. Keevil proposes antimicrobial copper surfaces as one way to address this, since they achieve a rapid kill of significant bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens.

Copper’s rapid destruction of pathogens could prevent mutational resistance developing and also help reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance genes to receptive and potentially more virulent organisms, as well as genes responsible for virulence. Additionally, copper touch surfaces could have a key role in preventing the transmission of healthcare-associated infections. Extensive laboratory tests have demonstrated copper’s antimicrobial efficacy against key organisms responsible for these infections, and clinical trials around the world are now reporting on its efficacy in busy, real-world environments.” “

This latest study demonstrated that using antimicrobial copper surfaces in intensive care units at three US hospitals reduced hospital-acquired infection rates by 40.4%.

The following hospitals were involved in the trial: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

The research team had set out to determine how effective antimicrobial copper was at eliminating pathogens in hospital rooms, and if so, whether this would result in lower infection rates.

The scientists replaced overbed tray tables, nurse call buttons, IV poles, bed rails and other commonly-touched items with antimicrobial copper versions.

Study leader, Dr Michael Schmidt, said they detected a 97% drop in surface pathogens in rooms with copper surfaces – this reduction was as good as that achieved from “terminal cleaning”, which occurs when a patient leaves a room and it is prepared for the next one.

Dr Schmidt said:

“Bacteria present on ICU room surfaces are probably responsible for 35-80% of patient infections, demonstrating how critical it is to keep hospitals clean. The copper objects used in the clinical trial supplemented cleaning protocols, lowered microbial levels, and resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the number of infections contracted by patients treated in those rooms.”

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Written by Christian Nordqvist