Surface cleaner

With widespread antibiotic resistance looming, researchers are attempting to create new antimicrobial surfaces

surfaces cause bacterial membranes to rupture and inactivate. By nanoengineering the copper surface with a laser treatment, the team increased the ‘contact killing’ surface area of the material. Their nanoengineered copper was able to effectively and quickly kill four different bacterial strains, including antibiotic-resistant MRSA, a common and problematic hospital-acquired infection.

Hospital-acquired infections place a significant burden on public health. In the EU, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that roughly 4.1 million acute care patients contract a hospital-acquired infection every year, resulting in 37,000 deaths. In the US, some two million infections annually cost the healthcare sector roughly $28-45 billion.

Clinical research shows that copper can also be used to destroy viruses, such as influenza, norovirus, hepatitis C, and even HIV. While this technology is yet to be applied for antiviral purposes in clinical settings, copper surfaces have been effectively used in Finnish facilities to reduce counts of S. aureus, a common hospital-acquired infection. Copper surfaces have also reduced bacteria numbers on often-touched surfaces in intensive care units in the US.

Medical history is laced with examples of where transmissions through hospitals have accelerated epidemics; during the norovirus outbreak of 2009, norovirus was detected on 31 per cent of hospital surfaces, including trolleys, door handles, computer keyboards, and soap dispensers; during the SARS epidemic, 20 per cent of all infected persons were medical personnel. In light of recent events, nanoengineering looks like an increasingly viable solution.