Copper beds in the ICU harbored an average of 95 percent fewer bacteria than conventional hospital beds, according to an article on the SciTech Daily website.
The research was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
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,” according to the study's author.
CRAB Alert: The EVS Role in Preventing Infection
Why Hospital Waiting Rooms Aren't Going Away
Ground Broken on Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Hospital
Design, Compartmentation, Training: How Defend-in-Place Strategies Can Protect Patients
Milestone Marked with Topping Out Ceremony for BayCare Hospital Manatee