Southampton University scientists, whose similar research into the metal’s ability to inactivate MRSA led to an ongoing trial at Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital, have established that copper surfaces can also inactivate the Clostridium difficile organism.
In a second research project, the Southampton team, led by Professor Bill Keevil, have now verified that C. difficile microbes placed on copper alloy surfaces died “within one or two days”. In contrast, such bacteria were still alive a week later on stainless steel surfaces.
The research has provided the foundation for a year-long testing programme, under United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)- approved protocols, on 3,000 samples of five different copper alloys in independent US laboratories. The testing recently saw the EPA officially register copper as an antimicrobial agent, the first and only solid metal, says the UK’s Copper Development Association, to be registered as antimicrobial by the EPA.
Professor Tom Elliott, University Hospital Birmingham deputy medical director, and leader of the Selly Oak clinical trial, said: “Laboratory research has shown MRSA and Clostridium difficile microbes die much more quickly when in contact with copper-based surfaces than on the usual hospital surfaces.
If the trial proves successful in a clinical setting, it could provide the NHS Foundation Trust with yet another means of tackling the spread of healthcareassociated infections.”
