At the Risk Prevention and Patient Safety workshop in Paris, Professor Bill Keevil – a leading expert in environmental health – delivered a keynote presentation on the risk presented to patients by hospital pathogens, and the role copper can play in tackling these and improving patient safety.
The event was organised under the auspices of Le Lien, a patient organisation representing victims of medical accidents, and the World Health Organization’s Patients for Patient Safety Initiative, a programme that brings together patients, providers and policy-makers dedicated to improving healthcare safety through advocacy, collaboration and partnership. An audience of international infection control professionals, hospital cleaning managers and health authorities attended.
Professor Keevil is chair of environmental healthcare at the University of Southampton, and a global expert in environmental pathogens and copper’s antimicrobial properties, having researched copper’s efficacy against hospital pathogens such as MRSA and norovirus for more than 20 years. His presentation concluded a session on the deployment of antimicrobial copper touch surfaces as an additional infection control measure. Other speakers – from Rambouillet Hospital, North Parisian Private Hospital and Arago Clinic – discussed their experiences with replacing frequently-touched surfaces such as door handles, taps and hand rails with solid antimicrobial copper equivalents, providing a healthier environment for patients.
Professor Keevil presented on the risk to patients from hospital pathogens and his work assessing copper’s efficacy against a range of hospital bacteria and viruses that cause healthcare-associated infections. He also covered follow-on work by clinical trial groups showing antimicrobial copper surfaces continuously reduce contamination by >80%, and a multi-centre clinical trial in the US that further showed these surfaces reduced an ICU patient’s risk of acquiring an HCAI by 58%.
"Given the huge number of patients affected, globally, by healthcare-associated infections, healthcare facilities need to do all they can to prevent their spread," said Professor Keevil. "Solid copper and copper alloy touch surfaces offer an additional line of defence, working to support key infection control measures such as frequent hand washing and regular surface cleaning and disinfection."
