OBJECTIVE. Healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) cause substantial patient morbidity and mortality. Items in the environment harbor microorganisms that may contribute to HAIs. Reduction in surface bioburden may be an effective strategy to reduce HAIs. The inherent biocidal properties of copper surfaces offer a theoretical advantage to conventional cleaning, as the effect is continuous rather than episodic. We sought to determine whether placement of copper alloy-surfaced objects in an intensive care unit (ICU) reduced the risk of HAI. DESIGN. Intention-to-treat randomized control trial between July 12, 2010, and June 14, 2011. SETTINg. The ICUs of 3 hospitals. PATIENTS. Patients presenting for admission to the ICU. METHODS. Patients were randomly placed in available rooms with or without copper alloy surfaces, and the rates of incident HAI and/or colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in each type of room were compared. RESULTS. The rate of HAI and/or MRSA or VRE colonization in ICU rooms with copper alloy surfaces was significantly lower than that in standard ICU rooms (0.071 vs 0.123; P = .020). For HAI only, the rate was reduced from 0.081 to 0.034 (P = .013). CONCLUSIONs. Patients cared for in ICU rooms with copper alloy surfaces had a significantly lower rate of incident HAI and/or colonization with MRSA or VRE than did patients treated in standard rooms. Additional studies are needed to determine the clinical effect of copper alloy surfaces in additional patient populations and settings.

The contribution of environmental surface contamination with pathogenic organisms to the development of health care-associated infections (HAI) has not been well defined. The microbial burden (MB) associated with commonly touched surfaces in intensive care units (ICUs) was determined by sampling six objects in 16 rooms in ICUs in three hospitals over 43 months. At month 23, copper-alloy surfaces, with inherent antimicrobial properties, were installed onto six monitored objects in 8 of 16 rooms, and the effect that this application had on the intrinsic MB present on the six objects was assessed. Census continued in rooms with and without copper for an additional 21 months. In concert with routine infection control practices, the average MB found for the six objects assessed in the clinical environment during the preintervention phase was 28 times higher (6,985 CFU/ 100 cm 2 ; n ‫؍‬ 3,977 objects sampled) than levels proposed as benign immediately after terminal cleaning (<250 CFU/100 cm 2 ). During the intervention phase, the MB was found to be significantly lower for both the control and copper-surfaced objects. Copper was found to cause a significant (83%) reduction in the average MB found on the objects (465 CFU/100 cm 2 ; n ‫؍‬ 2714 objects) compared to the controls (2,674 CFU/100 cm 2 ; n ‫؍‬ 2,831 objects [P < 0.0001]). The introduction of copper surfaces to objects formerly covered with plastic, wood, stainless steel, and other materials found in the patient care environment significantly reduced the overall MB on a continuous basis, thereby providing a potentially safer environment for hospital patients, health care workers (HCWs), and visitors.

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Cleaning is an effective way to lower the bacterial burden (BB) on surfaces and minimize the infection risk to patients. However, BB can quickly return. Copper, when used to surface hospital bed rails, was found to consistently limit surface BB before and after cleaning through its continuous antimicrobial activity.

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Stethoscope surfaces fabricated with AMCus were consistently found to harbor fewer bacteria.

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