Silver News
Silver Cabinet Helps Stop Drug-Resistant Hospital Infections
Scientists at the University of Manchester, in partnership with Brimaid, have introduced a hospital bedside cabinet made from plastic impregnated with silver ions designed to help reduce the spread of MRSA, a virulent strain of antibiotic resistant bug common in health care facilities.
More than 5,000 people die annually in the U.K. from Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus or MRSA. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that hospital infections kill an estimated 90,000 people a year of the 2 million Americans who become infected while in hospitals. MRSA is not broken out in the data, but officials say that the majority of hospital infections are attributed to MRSA. Nearly 60 percent of patients in intensive care units are infected with the bacteria, compared to 30 percent in 1989.
In past years, MRSA was easily killed by Methicillin, a close relative of penicillin, but increased use of the drug – some medical experts say unnecessarily – have caused the bug to mutate and become resistant.
Silver offers a promising way to kill microbes, because germs cannot become resistant to its ability to destroy cell walls, rendering the germs inert.
The BioKab cabinet's soft-edge, rounded corner design and its light weight allow hospital staff to keep it clean and move it when needed to reach all sides, thus further preventing the harboring of bacteria, according to Professor Stephen Bush, director of the University of Manchester's Center for Manufacture, who led the design and production team. "As well as direct human contact, MRSA can be passed indirectly to patients via bacteria resting on the surfaces of hospital equipment and furniture contained in wards. However, with the BioKab's specially impregnated surface this cross-contamination is eliminated and germs will not survive," said Bush.
The BioKab body and surfaces are impregnated during manufacturing with Irgaguard – a silver-based inorganic antimicrobial. Bush says its anti-bacterial effects do not degrade with time and is temperature-stable to well over 500 degrees Centigrade. The material also kills E. coli, Salmonella and many other harmful bacteria which come into contact with its surface.
Silver News - Third Quarter 2005
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