Copper Fittings to Keep Superbugs at Bay

The much dreaded superbugs could be kept at bay through copper - door handles, taps, light switches and the like.

The much dreaded superbugs could be kept at bay through copper door handles, taps, light switches and the like.

A study found that copper fittings rapidly killed bugs on hospital wards, succeeding where other infection control measures failed.

MRSA, Scarier than SARS or Bird Flu
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA, a type of bacteria resistant to treatment, is becoming a potential threat to public health;

In the trial at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, copper taps, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bugs.

It is thought the metal 'suffocates' germs, preventing them breathing. It may also stop them from feeding and destroy their DNA.

Lab tests show that the metal kills off the deadly MRSA and C difficile superbugs.

Antibiotics in Fight Against MRSA Superbug Show Promise
Two experimental antibiotics from the United States and Switzerland show promising results in fighting the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) superbug, researchers said.

It also kills other dangerous germs, including the flu virus and the E coli food poisoning bug.

Although the number of cases of MRSA and C difficile is falling, the two bugs still claim thousands of lives a year.

Overuse Of Antibiotics-Creating Monsters Out Of Common Microbes
Health officials are alarmed at the evolution of causal organisms of hitherto common diseases into ‘superbugs’.

During the ten-week trial on a medical ward, a set of taps, a lavatory seat and a push plate on an entrance door were replaced with copper versions. They were swabbed twice a day for bugs and the results compared with a traditional tap, lavatory seat and push plate elsewhere in the ward.

The copper items had up to 95 per cent fewer bugs on their surface whenever they were tested, a U.S. conference on antibiotics heard yesterday.

Superbugs Wont Go Away With Long-sleeved Coats – Lancet
Banishing long-sleeved coats is not going to help fight back the superbug invasion, says Lancet.

Professor Tom Elliott, the lead researcher and a consultant microbiologist at the hospital, said: 'The findings of 90 to 95 per cent killing of those organisms, even after a busy day on a medical ward with items being touched by numerous people, is remarkable.

'I have been a consultant microbiologist for several decades. This is the first time I have seen anything like copper in terms of the effect it will have in the environment.

'It may well offer us another mechanism for trying to defeat the spread of infection.'

Researcher Professor Peter Lambert, of Aston University, Birmingham, said: 'The numbers decreased always on copper but not on the steel surfaces.'

If further hospital-based trials prove as successful, the researchers would like copper fixtures and fittings installed in hospitals around the country.

Doorknobs, taps, light switches, toilet seats and handles and bathroom 'grab rails' could all be ripped out and replaced with copper versions, Daily Mail reports.

Source-Medindia
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