Gloves kill hospital bacteria at a touch

in The battle against hospital superbugs, a british company has invented an antimicrobial compound that can be applied to medical gloves, to stop bacteria spreading from surfaces to people.

Laboratory tests showed that the chemical — which is activated on contact with air — killed nearly all bacteria within five minutes.

The compound, which has been developed by the nottingham-based company Chemical intelligence, is available in liquid form and can be applied to devices and gloves in hospital, or bought as gloves already covered with it.

An estimated 300,000 patients a year in england acquire infections in hospital and around 5,000 die as a result of drugresistant infections.