We have been following the handling of the SARS by various governmental bodies in Canada and around the world and realize that because of their slow actions, we are often late in responding to nosocomial and community-originating infections. At the same time, we all owe a great debt to front line health care workers who face unknown and often dangerous threats in hospitals and other medical facilities and yet still do a remarkable job. This is in spite of the lack of information or the slow speed of delivering appropriate information on infection control issues. In any public building, including hospitals, infections are spread often by an infected person blowing his or her nose or coughing and then touching a heavy use surface such as a door, light switch or elevator button, etc. We all know that frequent hand-washing is the single greatest thing we can do to reduce the likelihood of acquiring these infections. However, 100% compliance with this guideline is impossible- how can you even get out of the washroom after washing your hands without touching the door or door handle?
With this in mind, we believe it is time to advocate novel infection control procedures which are applicable to any type of pathogen whether known or unknown. One little known but highly effective technology is a permanent type, bonded, broad-spectrum antimicrobial. Although little known to the general public, this product has been widely used for nearly 20 years on a variety of surgical gowns, dressings, plasters, drapes and other in-hospital supplies. This antimicrobial, called the Aegis Microbe ShieldÔ, can be applied onto any type of surface either by spraying or wet wiping a solution of the antimicrobial in water. After the water dries, the antimicrobial immediately reacts with the surface and forms a long-lasting chemical bond with the surface. Thus it can be easily applied to surfaces that people frequently touch and that don’t get cleaned between each touch, such as doorknobs, toilet handles, faucets, light switches, telephones, chairs, and many other surfaces. The result is ongoing antimicrobial protection on surfaces that have been shown in the past by Health Canada and the CDC to be a major contributor to nosocomial infections.
Once bonded to a surface, the antimicrobial cannot be easily removed- it would take intense scraping with an abrasive or use of a very caustic cleaner to remove. The Aegis antimicrobial has been found effective on contact against most common pathogenic bacteria, several viruses, including influenza viruses, as well as all known pathogenic fungi. One of the more useful properties in a medical setting is that the Aegis antimicrobial will not promote microbial adaptation since it is always at full strength and kills single-celled organisms by a physical mechanism and not by poisoning. If this technology becomes widely used in medical facilities, we expect this to lead to a significant reduction in the risk of acquiring infections in these health facilities.