An Overview of the Options for Antimicrobial Hard Surfaces in Hospitals - Use of Biocidal Surfaces for Reduction of Healthcare Acquired Infections - page 147

Table 7.2 In situ evaluations of antimicrobial surfaces in healthcare settings
Author/
year

Antimicrobial
surface

Location Setting Design Sampling schedule Findings Comment

Schmidt
2013
[ 70 ]

Charlson, South
Carolina,
USA

ICU Copper caps on

bedrails (99.9 %)

Prospective observational
study. The rails on beds
in 3/17 rooms were fitted
with copper surface caps

Copper and control bedrails
on seven beds per group
were sampled before
cleaning then 0.5, 2.5, 4.5
and 6.5 h after cleaning

The cfu count on the copper
bedrails was significantly
lower than on the
controls at all time points,
excepting 30 min after
cleaning

Copper bedrails were
associated with
significantly less
'hygiene fails' than
controls (34/75 for
copper vs. 58/75 for
controls). Co-authored by
the CDA

Schmidt
2012
[ 43 ]

Three hospitals,
USA

ICUs Copper alloy

(75-99.99 %)

Forty-three month
multicentre intervention
study; the intervention,
commencing at month
23, was fitting six
high-touch objects with
copper alloy in half of the
16 study rooms

Surfaces were sampled
weekly throughout the
study phases, resulting in
a 23 month
pre-intervention phase,
and a 21 month
intervention phase

Significant 83 % reduction in
the mean cfu count on
copper surfaces (mean
465 cfu/100 cm 2 on
copper vs. 2,674 cfu/
100 cm 2 for control);
significant reduction on
5/6 individual copper
surfaces; frequency
of isolating indicator
organisms was also
reduced

There was a striking
64 % reduction in
contamination of the
control objects between
pre- and intervention
phases. Marked
differences in the cfu
count of the six objects;
bed rails consistently
most heavily
contaminated

Karpanen
2012
[ 127 ]

Birmingham,
UK

Nineteen bed
acute
medical
ward

Copper alloys
(58-99.95 %)

Cross-over; 14 copper alloy
hand touch sites
vs. control items made
from other materials

Swabs used to sample copper
items and matched
controls in duplicate
weekly or fortnightly.
Items crossed over after
12 weeks of sampling, for
a further 12 weeks of
sampling following a
16 week “wash out”
period

Bacterial growth was lower
on all copper items, and
significantly lower on
8/14. Indicator organisms
were grown from
significantly fewer
copper items (18 % of
542 control items vs. 8 %
of 559 copper items)

Items installed for a least
3 months prior to study
start. Hand hygiene
compliance, staffing
levels and bed occupancy
were not significantly
different in the study
phases. Contamination
with C. difficile was not
significantly different on
copper items. No
indicator organisms
exhibited reduced copper
susceptibility. Funded