Some positive advancements to help combat superbugs.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -MRSA.html
Could a copper door handle help to beat MRSA?
They have proved resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics. But hospital superbugs may finally have met their match - in copper door handles.
Copper, used in medicines for 4,000 years, has been shown to be highly effective in killing off viruses such as MRSA.
• Hospital in soldiers furore uses copper to beat MRSA bug
Even the H5N1 bird flu virus could be vulnerable to it.
So successful have laboratory results been, that all the stainless steel fittings in one hospital ward are to be replaced with copper ones to see if they cut infection rates.
Doorknobs, bath taps, toilet handles and 'grab rails' will be ripped out and replaced with copper versions at Birmingham's Selly Oak hospital.
The trial follows work by scientists at Southampton University which expanded on existing knowledge of the anti-bacterial qualities of copper.
They found that the metal 'suffocates' germs, stopping them from breeding, and also destroying their DNA.
Even tiny pieces of copper killed vast amount of bugs.
A piece just one centimetre square wiped out 10million MRSA bacteria in just 90 minutes. With concentrations of germs on door handles and other surfaces generally much lower, it is thought it will take just 30 minutes to kill the bugs on hospital surfaces.
By contrast, bacteria can survive for days on stainless steel.
Professor Bill Keevil said the findings demonstrated the important role that copper could play in combating superbugs which infect 300,000 patients each year and kill at least 5,000.
'Our work has shown that copper and some of its alloys are able to kill bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens within minutes or hours of when they come into contact,' he added.
'Frequently touched items such as door handles, light switches, trolleys, bed heads, over-bed tables, bedside cabinets and grab rails can all be readily made from copper.
'It is even possible to use textiles containing copper fibres for cubicle curtains, bedding patient gowns and healthcare workers' uniforms.'
As well as MRSA, the researchers found that copper is effective against Clostridium difficile, which was linked to the deaths of 3,800 patients in 2005.
Over 18 months, they will compare the number of infections in the 'copper' ward at Selly Oak with those in a nearby one with stainless steel fittings.
They will also take regular samples from door handles and other surfaces to determine just how well the metal is killing bugs.
If copper works as well in the hospital as in the lab, hospitals across the country could switch to copper fittings.
Dr Mark Enright, an MRSA expert from Imperial College London, welcomed the trial.
He said: 'Copper is very toxic to bacteria - you only need microscopic amounts to have an effect. It should work against all types of bacteria.'
Although probably best known for its use as an electrical conductor or in pipes, the healing power of copper has been known for thousands of years.
The Pharaohs used copper to sterilise wounds and drinking water, while the Aztecs used it to treat skin conditions.
In Ancient Greece, Hippocrates, the 'father of medicine' noted that the metal could be used to treat leg ulcers.
Today, it is a common constituent in antiseptic and antifungal creams.
Prof Keevil said that despite the popular perception of copper costing more than steel, its use in hospitals was likely to be cost-effective.
A Department of Health spokesman said the Government would look at the results of the Selly Oak trial 'with great interest'.
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