BELFAST, Ireland – They are tiny, sneaky and deadly! Superbugs are lurking inside hospitals everywhere. More than 70-thousand Americans will die each year from an infection they caught in the hospital. Superbugs have proved difficult to treat, but now there are two breakthroughs that are showing promise.
"The organisms are smart. They're always a step ahead of us," warned Sasha Madison, MPH, is the Director of Infection Prevention Program, Stanford Hospital and Clinics.
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Superbugs like MRSA, C. diff, and E. coli are hard to treat, but scientists from Queen's University Belfast in Ireland have developed a gel that kills infections.
"Our gel is unique because they are the first peptide-based gel that acts against resistant bio-forms of hospital superbugs," said Garry Laverty, PhD, research leader at the School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast.
The gel is derived from peptides – the same building blocks of natural proteins that form human tissue.
"They occur naturally, and are natural molecules that fight infection." Laverty said.
Another weapon in infection fighting is this robot. It essentially cleans and disinfects a hospital room.
"We have a higher level of assurance that the room is truly the cleanest it can be for our patients," said Madison.
The Xenex uses UV pulsating light to disrupt an organism's DNA– killing spores, bacteria, viruses and mold.
"So, what we're trying to do is bring those organisms way, way, way, down." Madison said.
In one study, the robot reduced surface contamination in the operating room by 81-percent and air contamination by 46-percent.
he disinfecting robot can be used in patient rooms, the operating room and even the ER.
Additional Information:
There are two types of MRSA infections: Community-associated (CA-MRSA), which spreads through skin-to-skin contact, and Healthcare Associated (HA-MRSA), which can cause infections in the bloodstream, and around surgical wounds. C-Difficile/C-Diff can occur when a patient has been taking antibiotics over a long period of time, causing ‘good', digestive intestinal bacteria to be destroyed. Although E-coli already lives in our intestines and is mostly harmless, the strain of E-coli that produces the Shinga toxin is responsible for most infections; named because it is almost identical to the toxic produced in Shingella dysenteria type 1.
(Source: http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/understanding-mrsa-methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus, http://www.about-ecoli.com/)
PREVENTIONS: Personal and surface sanitation in health care facilities can prevent HA-MRSA, C-diff and E-coli in most cases. Food Safety procedures are standard preventions to avoid contracting bad E-coli.
(Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mrsa.html, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/c-difficile/basics/causes/con-20029664, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ecoliinfections.html
NEW TECHNOLOGY: Because these superbugs coat themselves in a toxic biofilm, standard treatments are ineffective. The use of a new peptide-based gel can break through the biofilm, killing the bacteria. Coating medical devices before an operation with this gel can prevent the spread of super bugs. The protein in the gel also promotes healing. Future potential for this compound include making it into a powder to place in inhalers to help with chest and lung infections. Also available is the 100% green XENEX Robot. The major factor of effectiveness with this product is that it uses pulsed Xenon bulbs that cover the full UV germicidal spectrum, instead of mercury bulbs which are toxic. Not to mention, the XENEX Robot can decontaminate a space in a fraction of the time compared to a mercury-based system.
(Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/antibacterial-gel-from-queens-university-belfast-scientists-can-kill-the-toughest-of-hospital-superbugs-30517593.html, http://www.xenex.com/xenex-robot/, http://go.pardot.com/l/30612/2014-06-25/6bgwh)