MRSA (Mersa) Questions

Machines 'ward off hospital bugs'

Link: BBC NEWS | UK | England | Somerset | Machines 'ward off hospital bugs'.

A Somerset hospital has installed special "fresh air" machines to combat airborne bugs, odours and pollutants. Clevedon hospital said it was proud never to have had a case of MRSA and was working to keep it that way. Health bosses began testing the units last summer and has now put them in its wards and minor injuries department. Matron Gwen Hobbs said: "We are pleased to reassure our community that we are working hard to protect the hospital and its patients from infection." The machines are said to kill bacteria and viruses, but also remove the triggers that can cause some allergies and breathing difficulties. The hospital said that research had shown them to be particularly effective against MRSA and norovirus.

MRSA - Advanced Ozone Technology To Be Trialled In Hospitals

Link: MRSA - Advanced Ozone Technology To Be Trialled In Hospitals.

Stockport-based environmental hygiene specialist Steritrox has been awarded a research grant to develop their advanced ozone system to combat the growing threat to public health of MRSA, Clostridium Difficile and other acquired infections in hospitals. The £168,000 research and development grant was awarded to Steritrox by the Northwest Regional Development Agency on behalf of the Department of Trade & Industry. The Steritrox system was originally developed for sanitizing high care production facilities in the food industry and is currently being used by some of Europe’s largest food manufactures to control potentially harmful bacteria and contaminants.

Enzyme found in tears could combat MRSA

Link: ScienceDaily

UK firm Rigest are looking for backers to develop an air sanitizing system using an enzyme found naturally in human tears. Lactoperoxidase can attack and kill microbes such as 'flu viruses and the bacteria responsible for MRSA. The system could be used to sanitize the air in airplanes and hospital sick bays.

Clean air system for homes could combat MRSA

Link: KVIA.com – The El Paso News Leader

    IQAir North America, the industry leader in high-efficiency air cleaning products, announced today the introduction of their new whole-house air cleaning system. The system, named the PerfectHome, far exceeds the level of air cleaning effectiveness provided by any other whole-house air cleaning system. It is designed to be the ultimate high end air cleaning system for people with health conscious lifestyles. The PerfectHome contains the world's most advanced two-stage filtration process. It captures micro-particles with its MERV 16 rated pre-filter. Then it eliminates nano-particles with its high-performance HyperHEPA filter. The PerfectHome is based on IQAir's patented technology used in hospitals to filter particles as small as Avian flu, SARS virus, and MRSA. The PerfectHome filters 100% of the air passing through a residential HVAC system, with a 99.97% efficiency for particles as small as 0.3 microns and 99.5% efficiency for particles down to 0.003 microns. In addition to providing the highest level of air filtration efficiency, the PerfectHome also offers the lowest air resistance in the whole-house air cleaning market. Due to the PerfectHome's energy-efficient digital fan, the system provides up to 2,000 CFM of ultra-clean air with zero pressure drop. "The performance of the PerfectHome is unprecedented," says Frank Hammes, President of IQAir. "Previously, this level of air filtration was only possible in multi-million dollar clean rooms. At an installed price starting at $7,500, this system addresses the absolute high end in the residential air cleaning market. It is for people who want and demand the very best in their homes."

Reduction in MRSA environmental contamination with a portable HEPA-filtration unit.

Link: Reduction

      There is renewed interest in the hospital environment as a potentially important factor for cross-infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other nosocomial pathogens. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)-filtration unit (IQAir Cleanroom H13, Incen AG, Goldach, Switzerland) at reducing MRSA environmental surface contamination within a clinical setting. The MRSA contamination rate on horizontal surfaces was assessed with agar settle plates in ward side-rooms of three patients who were heavy MRSA dispersers. Contamination rates were measured at different air filtration rates (60-235m(3)/h) and compared with no air filtration using Poisson regression. Without air filtration, between 80% and 100% of settle plates were positive for MRSA, with the mean number of MRSA colony-forming units (cfu)/10-h exposure/plate ranging from 4.1 to 27.7. Air filtration at a rate of 140m(3)/h (one patient) and 235m(3)/h (two patients), resulted in a highly significant decrease in contamination rates compared with no air filtration (adjusted rate ratios 0.037, 0.099 and 0.248, respectively; P<0.001 for each). A strong association was demonstrated between the rate of air filtration and the mean number of MRSA cfu/10-h exposure/plate (P for trend<0.001). In conclusion, this portable HEPA-filtration unit can significantly reduce MRSA environmental contamination within patient isolation rooms, and this may prove to be a useful addition to existing MRSA infection control measures.

Air Managment could cut MRSA Infection

Link: A Breath of Fresh Air in the Fight for Clean Air.

A NEW air management system which kills an unprecedented 99.7% of airborne bacteria and viruses, including MRSA, Anthrax and Bird Flu, has been developed in the UK by Quest International.

Housed within a small unit similar to a standard air-conditioning unit, the AirManager kills contaminates in a single cycle, purifying air which could carry potentially fatal bacteria and viruses. The result is an environment free from bacteria and unpleasant odours wherever an AirManager system is installed.

David Hallam, Director of Research and Development at Quest said: “AirManager has so many applications that people in every field of life will benefit. Whether an environment suffers from unpleasant odours or more serious airborne particulates such as MRSA, AirManager cleanses the air and makes a room pleasant and, more importantly, safe to be in.”

The system has been developed over several years by Mr Hallam who was prompted to develop the system when an ailing relative, Uncle Tom, recovering from a colostomy left some unpleasant odours in the nursing home where he was a resident.

“The solution to Tom’s problem and that of his fellow residents was fairly simple,” said Mr Hallam, “but since then we have been developing the AirManager technology for a wide range of markets including food technology, laboratories, hospitals and healthcare, aviation and the military – in fact anywhere where you need a clean air environment.”

AirManager uses Closed Coupled Field Technology (CCFT) which can kill bacteria and other contaminates quickly whilst at the same time remaining harmless to people in the vicinity.

Superbug-killer in hurry for trials

Link: Superbug-killer in hurry for trials.

A BACTERIA-killing cleaner could be the answer to the deadly superbug MRSA which is plaguing Britain's hospitals. Conquering the bug which kills at least 5,000 patients a year has been declared a top priority by the NHS. But getting the process into clinical trials for testing is a frustratingly slow business, says the company involved, Steritrox, based in Stockport. The firm is harnessing the power of ozone to change fresh air into a bacteria killer. Ozone has been known for years as an anti-bacterial, but the problem is that it is also dangerous to humans. Now Steritrox, has developed a method of using it to deep-clean, which leaves rooms safe for humans after just a short time.

Building Inspector blames ventilation for MRSA spread

Link: Bromsgrove Standard.

A HOSPITAL patient from Bromsgrove who spent years as a building inspector has slammed Redditch's Alexandra for the poor ventilation system, saying he thinks it could be a breeding ground for bugs. Bert Batty, 96, looked after the upkeep and maintenance of14 hospitals in the 1960s and following deaths from hospital bugs was one of the technicians asked to look into cross infections. He told The Standard that when he was on ward ten of the Alex for a minor operation he noticed the atmosphere felt heavy and unclean and felt there was not sufficient ventilation. "I asked the ward sister where the air extractor unit was and was told that there wasn't one, but I could open my bedside window. "I enquired further because when I arrived all of the windows were closed and the mechanism in the skylight was also shut." When Mr Batty returned home, he called the hospital and set up a meeting with representatives from there. After being told at that meeting that air change control was operated from a centralised system, Mr Batty said he feared dirty air could be recirculated around the hospital.

Sanuvox Launches New Hope in Combating Hospital Acquired Infections

Link: Full Room Sterilization.

The Penta is a hybrid unit of the one used in the study published in The Lancet Medical Journal, McGill University scientists found that shining proprietary Ultraviolet Purifiers on the air conditioning coil reduces over all sickness by 20%, reduces respiratory symptoms by 40% and has resulted in a 99% reduction of microbial and endotoxin concentrations on irradiated surfaces within the ventilation system. The PENTA is placed in a room and will disinfect 360� covering walls, floors and ceilings without the use of chemicals and leaving no residual toxins. The PENTA has safety features of 2 timers: one to set for the duration dependant on the duration of the sterilization and the other to let you leave the room before sterilization starts. The benefits to Health Boards, Doctors offices, Dialysis rooms, Food Processors and Prisons is that if an area is infected or requires disinfection the PENTA can be wheeled in, turned on, and when the job is complete the area has been sterilized. Older labour intensive methods of using cleaners could leave area where bacteria can breed, alternatively using more hazardous ozone / gas methods may have other health and safety implications, i.e. leakage, etc.

Vapor could yield MRSA breakthrough

Link: .:: Response Source :: ::..

STERIS, a worldwide leader in decontamination and infection prevention, will host a special seminar at the Summit to look at the work it has been conducting with ambulance services. Trials conducted with multiple ambulance trusts demonstrate a high level of environmental contamination within the patient and paramedic areas of emergency vehicles. These trails additionally demonstrated that current and traditional methods for cleaning emergency vehicle interiors have little effect in reducing contamination levels. Following the use of STERIS’s proprietary Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP�) fumigation technology, trial data showed that ambulances could be fully decontaminated within two hours. Further trials of the VHP technology have now taken place with other ambulance service trusts across the United Kingdom. Reporting on parallel research using STERIS’s technology, a speaker from a leading UK hospital will discuss how STERIS’s VHP technology assisted the hospital in decontaminating a ward following a period of persistent MRSA contamination. The Department of Health has approved the use of VHP following a special Rapid Review Panel assessment gave the technology the green light to fight infection in hospitals.