Self-Disinfecting Copper Beds Sustain Terminal Cleaning and Disinfection (TC&D) Effects Throughout Patient Care

Background: Microbial burden associated with near-patient, touch surfaces results in a greater risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Acute-care beds may be a critical fomite, as traditional plastic surfaces harbor the highest concentrations of bacteria associated with high-touch surfaces in a hospital room’s patient zone. Methods: Five high touch ICU bed surfaces encountered by patients, healthcare-workers and visitors were monitored by routine culture to assess the effect US-EPA registered antimicrobial copper materials have on the microbial burden. Results: Despite both daily and discharge cleaning and disinfection, each control bed’s plastic surfaces exceeded bacterial concentrations recommended subsequent to terminal cleaning & disinfection (TCD at levels below those considered to increase the likelihood of HAIs. With adherence to routine daily and terminal cleaning regimes throughout the study, the copper alloy surfaces neither tarnished nor required a need for additional cleaning or special maintenance. Conclusion: Beds encapsulated with US-EPA registered antimicrobial copper materials were found to sustain the TC&D risk threshold levels throughout the patients’ stay, suggesting that outfitting acute-care beds with such materials may be an important supplement to controlling the concentration of infectious agents, and thereby potentially reduce the overall HAI risk. Importance Despite cleaning efforts of environmental service teams and substantial compliance with hand hygiene best-practices, the microbial burden in patient care settings often exceeds concentrations where transfer to patients represents a substantial acquisition risk for healthcare associated infections (HAI). Approaches to limit HAI-risk have relied on designing healthcare equipment and furnishings that are easier to clean and/or use of no-touch disinfection interventions such as germicidal-ultraviolet irradiation or vapor deposition of hydrogen peroxide. In a clinical trial evaluating the largest fomite in the patient care setting, the bed, was encapsulated with continuously-disinfecting antimicrobial copper surfaces which reduced the bacteria on surfaces by 94% and sustained the microbial burden below the terminal cleaning and disinfection risk threshold throughout the patients’ stay. Such an intervention, that continuously limits microbes on high-touch surfaces, should be studied in a broader range of healthcare settings to determine its potential long-range efficacy for reducing HAI.