Curtain Control? Researchers Study Antimicrobial Offerings

Healthcare facilities have incorporated a range of advanced technologies and improved products into their operations in recent months with the hopes of controlling and preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Some of these hoped-for solutions involved technologies such as UV lighting and ionization, while others have taken a lower-tech approach. Consider the case of antimicrobial curtains.

Researchers with the University of Iowa tested the effectiveness of antimicrobial curtains in an intensive care unit at the University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics, according to Health Facilities Management. The researchers used three randomized arms to perform analysis of the hospital curtains: two intervention arms and a control arm. The two intervention arms included halamine antimicrobial curtains and halamine antimicrobial curtains sprayed twice weekly with a sodium hypochlorite-based disinfecting spray. The control arm consisted of standard hospital curtains. They collected samples twice weekly for three weeks to assess pathogenic bacterial contamination. 

The findings? The likelihood of remaining uncontaminated was 38 percent for standard curtains, 37 percent for the antimicrobial curtains and 60 percent for the antimicrobial curtains treated with disinfectant spray. They found no statistically significant difference in the amount of time before pathogenic contamination occurred between the three sets. 

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