Hospital infections killed over 49.000 people in Italy last year.
Italy accounts for 30% of all sepsis deaths in the 28 EU countries*. However, a new study bodes well for the future. Hospital beds in copper positioned in the ICU units can find 95% less bacteria than traditional hospital beds, drastically reducing the risk to which patients are exposed during their hospital stays.
La Research , published this week in the magazine Applied and Environmental Microbiology it could open the door to the removal of a source of disease and a number of deaths “equivalent to a jet crash every day”. The Dr. Michael G. Schmidt, professor of microbiology and immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.
Indeed, hospital beds are one of the most contaminated surfaces, directly leading to lethal hospital-acquired infections, which undermine health of people and are among the top 20 causes of death in Italy, and 8th in the USA.
“Despite the best efforts of environmental services workers, hospital environments are not cleaned often enough, nor well enough,” said the Dr. Schmidt.
Now they are needed.
Beds with copper surfaces have never been supplied to hospitals, even though they have long been known to repel and kill bacteria. Copper's antimicrobial properties have been known since the times of ancient Ayurveda, one of the world's oldest holistic healing systems.
“Based on the positive results of the previous tests, we worked to obtain a completely encapsulated copper bed. We had to convince the producers that it was worth the risk to undertake this effort. “
Michael G. Schmidt
During the study, the researchers found that the rails, footboards and bed controls of traditional hospital beds with plastic surfaces were full of dangerous amounts of bacteria. 90% of the bacterial samples indicated concentrations of bacteria that exceeded safety levels.
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Copper beds: many fields of application
The results indicate that antimicrobial copper beds can assist infection control professionals in their research. They can maintain sanitary hygienic surfaces between regular cleanings, thus reducing the potential risk of transmission of bacteria associated with infections in hospital settings.
Researchers believe that copper hospital beds will not only lead to major improvements in patient outcomes and saved lives, but also to significant savings in healthcare costs.
* The data emerges from the 2018 Health Observatory Report presented in May 2019 in Rome.
