| Dr Anu Kant Mital |
When a patient is admitted to a hospital, he is immediately exposed to various infections already present in the hospital in other patients who also are admitted. They may end up exposing themselves to various bacteria, viruses and such innocuous infections or to more severe diseases like tuberculosis, HIV, Hepatitis C, and infectious agents like the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
According to the centres for disease control and prevention, hospital-acquired infections (HAI) constitute the fourth-greatest cause of death in the United States — following only cancer, heart disease and stroke. More Americans die every year from HAIs than from breast cancer, HIV and automobile accidents combined.
One out of every 20 patients in a hospital will become even more ill than when he or she arrived during the time spent at the hospital because these patients contract and suffer the horrors of a deadly infection leading to an increased morbidity.
Hospitals have become cesspools of deadly bacteria, viruses and toxic mould. Approximately 2.5 million individuals in the US become infected this way each year, and more than 100,000 of them die. To put this in perspective, the American Hospital Association (AHA) says there were 33.4 million inpatient hospital admissions in 2006. These statistics are frightening, and are especially disheartening, because these infections are preventable.
A majority of these infections are transmitted by coming in contact with surfaces that are infected, like bed-rails, IV poles, dressing trolleys etc. These objects are coming in contact with infected patients and their relatives who come to visit or attend to them, as well as medical and paramedical health workers.
Although a standard protocol of sterile practice like routine hand washing and disinfectant use remain as the first line of defence, it has been shown that pathogens can survive in the most microscopic of all scratches and crevices on these surfaces. Studies around the globe have shown that various pathogens survive on these inanimate objects in the hospital for long periods of time and may even thrive on them. According to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, MRSA can stay virulent on hard surfaces for as long as 56 days while the study done by the state of New Jersey shows that MRSA can stay virulent on hard surfaces for as many as 90 days.
Now, if these surfaces of the inanimate objects could be rendered totally sterile then of course there would be no pathogen to transmit. Thus the need for the third line of defence- a novel approach- i.e. to have all these commonly touched surfaces made of a surface that sterilises itself. Also this unique surface material would have all the other physical and mechanical qualities that the conventionally used materials possess.
Studies across the globe by microbiologists of repute have tested and proven that one such material exists. In fact it has been around for centuries and has been used by humans for its anti microbial properties in many ancient civilisations till the current age. This miracle material is copper. Studies have been recorded using the pure as well as alloys of copper which contain at least 60 per cent copper.
They have proven that this material is able to kill all bacteria including the superbugs and also the now common viruses like H1N1 etc. Recently studies in ICUs of super speciality hospitals like the Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital, as well as two other hospitals, in the US, over a period of 42 months, found that in the wards that had these touch surfaces made of copper alloys with 60 per cent copper, almost all (99.9 per cent) of all bacteria died on coming in contact with these inanimate objects like the IV stands, the bed rails and the side and over bed tables. These results have been consistent across hospitals in the UK, South Africa, Chile, Japan, Korea and other European countries.
The studies further examined the infection rates in these wards and found that infection rates were reduced by 40-70 per cent (depending on how many touch surfaces were made of copper) as compared to identical ICU wards in the same hospital where no touch surface was made of copper.
Due to these studies, infection control officials in various healthcare settings are taking notice and in many countries newer ICUs are being made with this anti-microbial copper touch surfaces or are being retrofitted. The hospital equipment makers are in the process of starting new product lines with the anti-microbial copper touch surfaces incorporated.
Even in India the sensitisation of the healthcare industry has started and many infection control specialists are working towards getting anti microbial copper touch surfaces in their hospitals. To account for our environment a study has been approved and is currently underway at the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital. The new ICU in the hospital has a set of four beds in one ward which has been altered to have the equipment like the bed-rails, foot rails, IV poles, the side and overbed tables as well as the dressing trolleys modified to cover the touch surfaces with anti microbial copper alloys. The opposite ward with four beds is being used as control. Regular swabs are being taken off the touch surfaces to measure the bio burden and compare the load of colony forming units on both wards.
The future healthcare set-ups will use more of this anti microbial copper alloy touch surfaces to reduce the burden of hospital acquired infection is a foregone conclusion. This is evident from the fact that many major greenfield projects are already specifying the anti microbial copper alloy products in their tenders and the medical equipment manufacturers have introduced products using this material