via Construction Canada
A new study has found that copper hospital beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) harbored an average of 95 percent fewer bacteria than conventional hospital beds, and maintained these low-risk levels throughout patients’ stay in hospital.
The research is published this week in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
“Hospital-acquired infections sicken approximately 2 million Americans annually, and kill nearly 100,000, numbers roughly equivalent to the number of deaths if a wide-bodied jet crashed every day,” said coauthor Michael G. Schmidt, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston. They are the eighth leading cause of death in the US.
Hospital beds are among the most contaminated surfaces in patient care settings. “Despite the best efforts by environmental services workers, they are neither cleaned often enough, nor well enough,” said Dr. Schmidt. Nonetheless, until recently, patient beds incorporating copper surfaces—long known to repel and kill bacteria—have not been commercially available.
Knowledge of copper’s antimicrobial properties dates back to ancient Ayurveda, when drinking water was often stored in copper vessels to prevent illness. In the modern medical era, numerous studies have noted copper’s antimicrobial properties.
However, until recently, no-one had designed acute–care hospital beds that enabled all high risk surfaces to be encapsulated in copper. “Based on the positive results of previous trials, we worked to get a fully encapsulated copper bed produced,” said Dr. Schmidt. “We needed to convince manufacturers that the risk to undertake this effort was worthwhile.”
This in situ study compared the relative contamination of intensive care unit (ICU) beds outfitted with copper rails, footboards, and bed controls to traditional hospital beds with plastic surfaces. Nearly 90 percent of the bacterial samples taken from the tops of the plastic rails had concentrations of bacteria that exceed levels considered safe.
“The findings indicate that antimicrobial copper beds can assist infection control practitioners in their quest to keep healthcare surfaces hygienic between regular cleanings, thereby reducing the potential risk of transmitting bacteria associated with healthcare associated infections,” said Dr. Schmidt.
With the advent of copper encapsulated hospital beds, dividends will likely be paid in improved patient outcomes, lives saved, and healthcare dollars saved.
Learn more: Copper Hospital Beds Kill Bacteria, Save Lives
The Latest on: Copper hospital beds
via Google News
The Latest on: Copper hospital beds
- Redeemer Health pursues partnership for hospital, physician practiceson May 10, 2022 at 1:32 pm
Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-based Redeemer Health is seeking a strategic partnership for its 236-bed hospital in Meadowbrook, Pa., and physician practices, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported May 10. The ...
- Police Name The Guest Found Dead At A Sandals Resort In The Bahamason May 10, 2022 at 11:06 am
The three people who died last week at a sandals resort in the Bahamas were frim Florida and Tennessee, and scientists and investigators are working to determine their causes of death, the island ...
- Police name the Tennessee and Florida guests found dead at a Sandals resort in the Bahamason May 9, 2022 at 11:33 pm
The three Americans who died last week at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas were from Tennessee and Florida, and scientists and investigators are working to determine their causes of death, the island ...
- Developer: City’s 2nd hospital to open within 2 yearson May 9, 2022 at 7:15 pm
The city’s second hospital will be up and running within two years, according to a spokesman for the developer. “We’re hoping for Planning & Zoning approval next month and council ...
- Police release the names of the American guests found dead at a Sandals resort in the Bahamason May 9, 2022 at 11:27 am
The woman who was hospitalized was found with him, Rolle said Saturday.At the second villa, they found a second man "slumped against a wall in a bathroom unresponsive," and the woman was "found in a ...
- Woman moved to Miami hospital after visiting resort where three Americans diedon May 9, 2022 at 9:36 am
An American woman who was hospitalized after becoming ill at a resort in the Bahamas has been transferred to a hospital in Miami.
- Editorial: Naval hospital buildings once helped heal our servicemen; now they need helpon May 8, 2022 at 1:30 pm
Thousands of members of the Greatest Generation injured in Europe during World War II spent time recovering at the Charleston Naval Base before returning home. Their stories echo around the ...
- Eight dementia patients sent 'out of area' due to lack of beds in South Canterburyon May 8, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Two hospital level care vacancies were listed in South Canterbury ... opened at The Croft in Timaru in May 2021 did not provide any increase in available beds, Cooper said. “Remember that Talbot [Park ...
- This Country star Daisy May Cooper rushed to hospital with kidney stones as she posts pic from hospital bedon May 6, 2022 at 11:18 am
THIS Country star Daisy May Cooper smiled through the pain after being hospitalised with kidney stones. The 34-year-old star shared a snap from her hospital bed on Tuesday admitting it had been ...
- Young tradie Phoenix Cooper cleared of raping drunk law student Melbourne CBDon May 5, 2022 at 7:32 pm
A tradie who had sex with a drunk law student he met while on a night out has been found not guilty of raping the woman.
via Bing News