Treating patient textiles with ionic silver after washing can significantly decrease microbial contamination, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
As hospitals and health systems continue to battle against harmful hospital-associated infections, addressing environmental cleanliness is becoming increasingly important. For the peer-reviewed study, researchers compared sheets treated with SilvaClean — a water-based ionic silver treatment — post-wash with untreated laundered sheets. Researchers found the use of SilvaClean resulted in a greater decrease in the presence Staphylococcus aureus contamination.
"Although further study is needed to better understand the role textiles play in hospital-acquired infections and to quantify the influence of silver textile treatment on healthcare-associated infection risk and patient outcomes, ionic silver treatment of textiles may prove useful in hospital-acquired infection reduction strategies," wrote the study's authors.
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