Nosocomial Infection : a fabric self-disinfecting on the doors

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Published the 09.10.2017 at 17: 30

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hôpitalgel hydro-alcooliqueinfection nosocomial

Apart from the beds, the fabric has almost disappeared from the hospitals. And for good reason : the time is now to fight against nosocomial infections. Each year, the hospitalization results in such an event to 5 % of patients.

But an initiative of the university of Leeds (Uk) could sign the return of textiles in the corridors. A prototype, presented in the Journal of Hospital Infection, has been developed. It contains a gel hydro-alcoholic that disinfects the door handles to each use.

1 000 flare up

The fabric developed hides a complete device. Inside the plastic bag are included a reservoir of gel hydro-alcoholic and a membrane composed of valves. Each time the port is opened, the device is activated and the gel is sent to the surface of the textile. It disinfects itself, somehow.

In the test phase, the prototype shows to be rather effective. The researchers selected the three bacteria most often involved in nosocomial infections : the staphylococcus gold (S. aureus), E. coli and E. faecalis. Each time, 72 prototypes were tested and compared to the material used the most, and aluminum.

Relative to the surface normal, the textile limit significantly the bacterial population. The reduction is of the order of 90 %, according to the tests. The life span of the system remains close. At the end of 1 000 flare-ups – about 7 days – the whole device needs to be renewed.

A supplement

This alternative could, however, be preferable to aluminum – which is already widely used in hospitals because of its antibacterial properties. Its effectiveness would be equivalent to that of copper, at a much lower cost. But it is possible to do better, according to researchers at the university of Leeds.

In fact, the doors are still the weakest link in the chain of hygiene in hospitals. It must be said that the number of hands that support them is considerable… and on this side, the serious leaves something to be desired.

A gel is hydro-alcoholic in addition could be filled, at least in part, the gap created by the lack of hand hygiene. “A study has shown an inverse correlation between the volume of gel used and the incidence of blood infections with staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin in hospitals in England and Wales,” explain the authors of the study.