copper preventing hospital infections

Copper Covering May Cut Hospital Infection Rates

By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today Published: October 23, 2011 Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston. BOSTON -- Equipping hospital rooms with copper surfaces decreased the risk of acquiring an infection by 45%, researchers reported here. The finding comes after a previous study that showed that copper surfaces -- such things as bed rails and table tops -- harbor significantly lower numbers of microbes than standard materials, according to Cassandra Salgado, MD, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.