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Copper Fittings to Keep Superbugs at Bay
A study found that copper fittings rapidly killed bugs on hospital wards, succeeding where other infection control measures failed.
In the trial at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, copper taps, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bugs.
It is thought the metal 'suffocates' germs, preventing them breathing. It may also stop them from feeding and destroy their DNA.
Lab tests show that the metal kills off the deadly MRSA and C difficile superbugs.
It also kills other dangerous germs, including the flu virus and the E coli food poisoning bug.
Although the number of cases of MRSA and C difficile is falling, the two bugs still claim thousands of lives a year.
During the ten-week trial on a medical ward, a set of taps, a lavatory seat and a push plate on an entrance door were replaced with copper versions. They were swabbed twice a day for bugs and the results compared with a traditional tap, lavatory seat and push plate elsewhere in the ward.
The copper items had up to 95 per cent fewer bugs on their surface whenever they were tested, a U.S. conference on antibiotics heard yesterday.
Professor Tom Elliott, the lead researcher and a consultant microbiologist at the hospital, said: 'The findings of 90 to 95 per cent killing of those organisms, even after a busy day on a medical ward with items being touched by numerous people, is remarkable.
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