Rechargeable Antimicrobial Textiles to Reduce Occupational Risk of Healthcare Personnel

Details

• Personal Author:
  Goodyear N ; Sun Y
• Description:
  Healthcare personnel (HCP) have a high occupational burden of exposures to infectious agents. Service textiles are high-touch surfaces in the healthcare environment and they play an important role in the acquisition and transmission of pathogenic microorganisms. Extensive studies have shown that in general practice, "clean" healthcare service textiles are rapidly and heavily contaminated/re-contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, including multi-drug resistant organisms that can survive for weeks on soft fabrics and easily transfer onto HCP's hands and other clean surfaces. In this project, we developed a pad-dry-cure continuous treatment technique to covalently bind (not coat or impregnate) N-halamines onto service textiles. Our main findings include: (1) The N-halamine fabrics provided 99.9983% kill of seven common bacteria (including drug-resistant bacteria) and fungi in 15 min, and 100% kill of MS2 virus in 30 min. The presence of normal skin flora, artificial sweat, and/or human serum did not affect antimicrobial potency. In comparison, a commercial silver-based antimicrobial scrub achieved only a 26.09% reduction of the bacteria. (2) The antimicrobial activity was maintained for 12 months and could be easily monitored with potassium iodide (KI) test strips through color change (i.e., N-halamine reacts with KI to produce iodine with a yellow/brown color). (3) If the test showed that the function was reduced, the fabric could be fully recharged by rinsing with diluted bleach. The recharging could be repeated through the entire service life of the fabric. (4) Further, the N-halamine fabrics showed excellent in vitro cytocompatibility toward mammalian cells. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Personnel Microbiology Occupational Health Safety Textile Industry
• Keywords:
  Antimicrobial Resistance Antimicrobials Fabrics Health Care Personnel Infectious Agents Microorganisms Pathogens Textiles
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068369
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R21-OH-011406, 2022 Oct; :1-10
• Contact Point Address:
  Yuyu Sun, PhD, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 600 Suffolk Street, Suite 415, Lowell, MA 01854-3643
• Email:
  yuyu_sun@uml.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  University of Massachusetts Lowell
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20190801
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20210731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:346ae96ec12670faf055d0626c6c30e2f5df7beb7653b79f6f51ad7d21e7b73da100ad75d473022396e9aea16b629f015f54507c9a31ff0ece991c8c7004a06c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219216/cdc_219216_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 268.91 KB ]