A long-term care hospital that implemented copper-oxide impregnated textiles saw lower healthcare-associated infection indicators and a decrease in antibiotic prescriptions, according to a study published in the April edition of the American Journal of Infection Control.
Researchers conducted a seven-month study involving all patients in two ventilator-dependent wards. For three months, one ward received treated textiles, while the other did not. After one month of both wards using untreated textiles, another three-month period began in which the wards flipped — the other received untreated textiles, and vice versa.
They found using copper oxide-infused textiles was associated with a 23 percent decrease in days of antibiotic treatment and a 27.5 percent decrease in antibiotic daily dose per 1,000 hospitalization days. Also, there were fewer antibiotic treatment initiation events and fewer fever days when the copper textiles were in use.
"Using copper oxide–impregnated biocidal textiles may be an important measure aimed at reducing HAIs in long-term care medical settings," the study concludes.