Device kills MRSA in one hour

Link: Hospital Healthcare Europe - Device kills MRSA in one hour.

A bioscience medical device invented in Britain can eradicate the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) superbug and other bacteria and viruses on surfaces in just one hour by purifying the air, according to a new independent report. Unlike air filtration systems, the UK-patented prototype is effective even without processing all of the air in a room through the unit. It uniquely combines a number of established technologies to trigger a molecular "chain reaction" that decontaminates the environment of germs, say its British inventors Tri-Air Developments. This is achieved harmlessly, even within a hospital or other room that is occupied by people. In recent tests MRSA bacteria samples on glass and metal – concentrations similar to those that might be found in infected hospital wards – were exposed to the air purification system and destroyed in less than one hour. The results follow a report last year by the same laboratory that confirmed the unit took less than two minutes to kill airborne test bacteria Staphylococcus, which is the same genus as MRSA (UK HPA Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Porton Down, 2007). This purification process is 100 times more effective than any current method of decontamination and can maintain air purity for as long as the unit is operational, according to inventors Tri-Air Developments – co-founded by microbiologists at Promanade Ltd and technology transfer specialists Inventa Partners Ltd and the UK's Building Research Establishment.