For the study, 21 clinicians in two hospitals used either a normal stethoscope or one made with antimicrobial copper alloys. Researchers took 276 samples from the devices to assess microbial burden.
They found stethoscopes made with copper alloys “carry significantly lower concentrations of bacteria … than their control equivalents,” regardless of healthcare provider or infection control practices.
The study concludes, “[T]he incorporation of copper alloys offers a passive solution to an intrinsically challenging problem facing healthcare and infection control practitioners.”
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