Drastic Reduction of Bacterial, Fungal and Viral Pathogen Titers by Cuprous Oxide Impregnated Medical Textiles

Abstract

Hospital patients and personnel are at risk of nosocomial viral infections, as clearly manifested during the COVID-19 pandemic. Transmission of respiratory viral pathogens can occur through contaminated surfaces, including from medical textiles. Copper has potent biocidal properties, and cuprous oxide impregnated medical textiles (CMT) reduce hospital-acquired bacterial infections. In the current study we confirm the antimicrobial properties of CMT and determine their capacity to reduce infectious titres of human coronavirus (HCoV-229E) in an independent laboratory. The antibacterial and antiviral activities of the CMT were determined according to AATCC TM100-2019 and ISO 18184:2019 standards, respectively. The CMT reduced by 4 logs the viable titers of MRSA, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis, and Candida auris after 2 h of incubation. Viable titers of Clostridium difficile were reduced by 2.3, 3, and 4 logs after 2, 6, and 18 h, respectively. Infectious titers of HCoV-229E exposed to CMT for 2 h were reduced by 2.8 and 4 logs (99.85% and 99.99% reductions) as compared to Time-0 control and initial inoculum, respectively. The CMT retain their antibacterial efficacy even after 100 industrial washings. Use of cuprous oxide impregnated textiles in clinical settings may reduce not only hospital acquired infections caused by bacterial and fungal pathogens, but also, and equally important, those caused by coronavirus and other viruses.

Keywords: coronavirus; cuprous oxide; hospital acquired infections; medical textiles; pathogens.

Figure 1

Two scanning electronic microscope (SEM) images of Test Sample 1 (a,b). (c) A representative Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) of a white dot (circled in (b)). (d) Cross section image of a single fiber showing the cuprous oxide microparticles throughout the fiber. (e) EDX analysis of the single-circled white dot shown in (c). (f) EDX analysis of the square area shown in (c). All EDX analyses show a peak at 8 keV corresponding to copper.

Figure 2

Particle size distribution (a) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis (b) of the cuprous oxide microparticles.