Physician lab coats and patient gowns travel around the hospital, often carrying pathogens along with them. Unlike hard surfaces, fabrics don’t take well to disinfecting wipes and are constantly in close contact with different people and places. A new product to be unveiled at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology’s Annual Conference this weekend promises to make all textiles going through a hospital’s laundry provider have antimicrobial properties.
Silver is a well known disruptor of cell wall formation, proper DNA function, and other processes, and the SilvaClean product/service imparts ionic silver into all the fabrics that go through its special treatment system. The SilvaClean SC4700 machine takes cartridges of silver that have to be changed weekly, but otherwise the laundry procedure is pretty much the same as with traditional machines.
The company says that the product is safe and won’t interfere with MRI or CT scans, and since people don’t have allergic reactions to silver it can be used throughout the hospital.
Product page: SilvaClean…
Source: Applied Silver…