Hospitals Considering Adding More Copper Surfaces That Can Help Kill Bacteria

By Dr Deepu

The Washington Post (9/20, Sun) reported at least 15 hospitals across the country have installed, or are considering installing, copper components on surfaces like light switches and door handles that are easily contaminated with microbes because of copper’s ability to “kill or inactivate a variety of pathogens by interacting with oxygen and modifying oxygen molecules.” Lynch, medical director of infection control at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said, “We’ve known for a long time that copper and other metals are effective in killing microbes, so it wasn’t a great leap to incorporate copper surfaces into hospitals.” The only published clinical trial showing how copper reduces infections in hospitals suggested copper surfaces reduced infection by 58 percent. The CDC is now seeking more research on the subject.