by Shane Henson — April 25, 2012—According to the Copper Development Association Inc., the market development, engineering and information services arm of the copper industry, antimicrobial copper may be hospitals’ and other facilities’ best defense against MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)—the super-virulent staph bacteria that is a leading cause of infections during patient hospitalization.
The CDA recently held a live Web cast experiment to demonstrate that antimicrobial copper effectively kills MRSA within two hours while it readily survives on stainless steel.
Before the experiment, the MRSA culture was stained with a green fluorescent dye to make it visible under a microscope, and then placed on antimicrobial copper and stainless steel. As the bacteria died off, the fluorescence diminished. The rate of diminishing fluorescence was a measure of the antimicrobial power of the surface on which it had been placed. The stainless steel surface showed little fade, indicating the surface had no antimicrobial activity. By contrast, the MRSA on the antimicrobial copper surface died in real time during the Web cast.
“Antimicrobial copper is part of the solution in the fight against healthcare-acquired infections—it kills 99.9% of bacteria within two hours of exposure,” said Harold Michels, senior vice president, technology and technical services for the CDA. The experiment was sponsored by the International Copper Association and the European Copper Institute.
