Copper has also been shown to be effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Copper has also been shown to be effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA or VRE. The first study was published in 2006 whereby copper and stainless steel coupons were inoculated with three MRSA strains (MRSA, EMRSA-1, and EMRSA-16) and incubated at 22°C and 4°C. The results demonstrated a complete kill of MRSA in 45 to 90 min on pure copper at room temperature. A complete kill was achieved within 6 h for all three strains at 4°C. In contrast, MRSA was still viable after 72 h on stainless steel.

An independent laboratory in the United Kingdom has done several in vitro tests comparing the antibacterial abilities of several bioactive wound dressings. The different wound dressing coupons were inoculated with approximately 10⁵ to 10⁶ CFU of S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and MRSA and incubated for 24 h at 24°C at >95% humidity. Their results showed a significant >1-log reduction of S. aureus on two of the four silver dressings, and there was no significant reduction with the other two silver dressings. A significant reduction of K. pneumoniae was observed on all four silver dressings, ranging between a 2-log and a >4-log reduction. On the alginate-honey dressing, a significant >1-log reduction was observed for both bacteria. On the 3% copper–zinc dressing, a >4-log reduction of both S. aureus and K. pneumoniae was observed. Dressings with two different copper concentrations (2% and 3%) were also tested against MRSA, which showed a greater reduction of MRSA with increased copper concentrations. In summary, copper-impregnated dressings showed a greater reduction of S. aureus and a similar reduction of K. pneumoniae. The alginate-honey dressing showed a similar reduction of S. aureus compared to the silver dressings and a lower reduction of K. pneumoniae than the silver and copper dressings. A higher copper concentration resulted in a greater log reduction of MRSA. Borkow et al. conducted in vitro and animal studies on a copper oxide-impregnated wound dressing. The in vitro studies demonstrated potent broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal activities of the wound dressings, with a reduction of the bacterial burden associated with the tissues of >99.9%. Tests comparing copper oxide-impregnated dressings to those impregnated with silver leachates found that the copper dressings were superior in providing a significantly greater reduction of the bacterial load.

（To be continued）

Copy from cmr.asm.org

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