Kliniklene helping the attack on 'super bugs'

Pegler has launched Kliniklene that will make a major contribution towards stamping out so called 'super bugs' in a healthcare and public health environment.

Almost everywhere you turn, the media is reporting on hospital acquired infections.

Few people in the country now fail to recognise the acronym 'MRSA', even if they don't know what it stands for.

They do recognise it as a bacterial infection more often than not caught in hospitals and other places where you're meant to be cared for - not struck down by a super bug.

The Government, not surprisingly, has made stamping out the increasing occurrence of these bacterial infections primarily in hospitals - but equally in nursing homes, schools and other public buildings - a major priority.

Reported incidents of MRSA are on the up.

'Hospital cleanliness' is a key NHS target set by the Department of Health.

There are now two specific Government policy initiatives to combat 'health care acquired infection'.

Introducing more rigorous cleaning and disinfection procedures clearly has an important role to play, but the use of new technology to help stamp out these infections is something that everyone in the healthcare sector has been praying for as things have seemed to spiral out of control.

Pegler, the leading manufacturer of taps, mixers and showers in Doncaster, has launched a new product that will make a major contribution towards stamping out so called 'super bugs' in a healthcare and public health environment.

Kliniklene is a unique coating applied on top of a durable Chromium plate finish.

Pegler has - for the very first time - managed to apply this unique technology to products that have until now resisted such a coating.

Like most good ideas, it's a very simple one, though the technology is far more complex.

Bacteria coming into contact with the surface are immediately attacked by the properties of the coating.

Once the bacteria are killed, the reactive element is released back into the material matrix.

It's important to realise that with this process, the reactive element is not a consumable item - it is part of the surface finish - and therefore does not diminish with exposure to bacteria.

It's not a spray on product - it's actually part of the finish to the tap.

It doesn't rub off and doesn't need reapplying - it's guaranteed for fifteen years.

It's new technology, but exactly how does the technology work and who says it works? Well, the new technology has been independently tested in accordance with JIS Z 2801:2000 and Pegler has - and can provide copies of - authoritative Test Results conducted by Law Laboratories Limited.

The results are staggering.

They are consistent and they are impressive.

The table below highlights the results of Antimicrobial Activity Efficacy tests over a 24-hour period.

All the key, common bacteria are virtually eradicated and certainly dealt with well in excess of the 95% target set by the NHS.

Concerns were expressed by health care professionals that the rigorous cleaning regimes in a healthcare environment might reduce the effectiveness of the Kliniklene coating.

The Department of Health identifies 49 functional areas for cleaning, relevant to taps and mixers with laid down requirements for the frequency of cleaning.

Surely they said, regular cleaning would dilute the coating's effect.

Well, actually no.

Remember - this is not a coating that is 'sprayed on' - it's as much part of the product as the chromium plating itself.

The new finish has been tested with twice daily cleaning using detergent or degreasing cleansers, plus the usual cleaning regime that sees the taps and mixers cleaned either four or eight times a day depending on their location and the risk level of those locations, and using hypochlorite based cleaners - bleach for example - and it retains its high degree of effectiveness even under this rigorous cleaning schedule.

So the addition of the Kliniklene coating, is a long-term aid to defeating infections.

And Pegler is so confident of this that they have given all their products treated with Kliniklene a fifteen-year guarantee.

Phill Jackson at Pegler says: "We can only do this because we understand the technology, we have the test results to prove its effectiveness and we have confidence in our products delivering this important additional defence against bacterial infection.

"At this time, Kliniklene is unique.

It is similar to other coatings that have been successfully applied to other materials and products, but never before to taps and mixers and the like.

This represents a major step forward and we would be happy to sit down and talk to potential customers about the benefits of adopting products from the Performa Healthcare range of taps and mixers for their projects".

The Pegler name is trusted and respected wherever specialist taps and mixers are specified, and Pegler brings that level of recognition for the high quality and reliability of its products to this exciting new opportunity.

They have developed their range of basin taps, sink taps, wall mounted bib taps, deck mounted and wall mounted mixers over several years and have a range of products to meet virtually any requirement in a hospital or broader health care environment.

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