In the fight to reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), the installation of bacteria-killing copper alloys to reduce bacterial loads has demonstrated promising results, according to an article on the FacilityCare website.
When cleaned regularly, touch surfaces made with copper — such as switches, fixtures, headwalls, footwalls and storage systems — kill 99.9 percent of infectious bacteria, the article said.
Facilities that are overcrowded or that do not follow the proper protocol when it comes to infection control can contribute to HAIs.
In the battle against HAIs, prevention is the key, and the type of surface being used has the potential to reduce exposure to infectious bacteria, the article said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conductedlaboratory testing on antimicrobial copper surfaces that have shown that when cleaned regularly, the copper alloy surfaces can eliminate more than 99.9 percent of bacteria within two hours, even after repeated contamination.
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