Anti bacterial system beats superbugs

You only have to pick up a newspaper or turn on the television to read and see an increasing number of reports concerning hospital infections and so called super-bugs.

You only have to pick up a newspaper or turn on the television to read and see an increasing number of reports concerning hospital infections and so called super-bugs.

If you could apply a coating to items that are handled regularly that would destroy these bugs on contact, then a great stride forward would have been made.

With the development of the Kliniklene system from Pegler, this solution is now available for use in hospitals.

The government has made stamping out these bacterial infections in hospitals a major priority and with reported incidents of MRSA on the up, cleanliness in hospitals has become a key NHS target set by the Department of Health.

There are two specific government policy initiatives designed to combat 'health care acquired infection'.

One involves much more rigourous cleaning and disinfection proceedures and the other is the development of new technology.

Sophisticated cleaning schedules have now been introduced in the majority of hospitals, complete with a corresponding campaign to inform the general public to respect cleaning proceedures and while this has had a significant impact, many have looked to new technology to provide long term answers.

The main obstacle to this development has been the difficulty in applying such a permanent coating to materials like metals that usually resist any coating, but with this issue overcome, hospitals can now benefit from a range of products capable of killing common bacterial infections on contact, including MRSA.

The results of the Antimicrobial Activity Efficacy tests over a 24-hour period are impressive.

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

Doncaster based Pegler limited has been instrumental in developing such products, and Marketing Manager Phill Jackson said, "Our Kliniklene is not a coating that is 'sprayed on' - it is as much a part of the products as the chromium plating.

The new finish has been tested with cleaners using a typical cleaning regime, with hypochlorite based cleaners such as bleach - and it still retains its high degree of effectiveness." The liklihood is that many more products will be developed with such a coating in the coming years and a variety of appications can be envisaged.

Already a range of products are available in the Performa Healthcare selection of taps and mixers, designed to meet virtually any requirement in a hospital or broader health care environment.

With products of this type becoming more commonplace, we can all look forward to seeing marked reductions in cases of super-bugs in our hospitals in years to come as the number of these products throughout the NHS increases.

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