Breakthrough in battle against C.Difficile
3rd Dec 2008Scientists at one of the UK’s leading teaching hospitals will announce today the interim results of a major study which will help drive significant reductions in the prevalence of healthcare associated infections (HCAI) and specifically C.difficile in UK hospitals and could also banish the use of potentially dangerous chlorine-based cleaners (bleach) from UK hospitals.
Microbiologists at Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHS Trust (CMMC) will today unveil interim results at the Federation of Infection Societies Conference in Cardiff that show the outcomes from the first fifteen weeks of a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a revolutionary hygiene technology called Byotrol.
The news of this study comes less than a week after a Healthcare Commission report highlighted that nine out of ten UK hospitals are failing to meet hygiene standards.
The first fifteen weeks of the research study showed the Byotrol technology delivers a performance advantage over chlorine-based (bleach) cleaners, which represent the current “gold standard” technology used in the battle against C.difficile. Most importantly for patients, the study also showed that the number of patients who developed diarrhoea due to C.difficile was 50% lower in the wards cleaned with Byotrol, compared to those cleaned with bleach.
The interim findings represent a real breakthrough in the battle against C.difficile which is one of the most difficult to kill micro-organisms found within hospitals and they potentially offer an alternative to bleach which has numerous problems associated with use in hospitals. Bleach is toxic to humans and corrodes and damages many surfaces to which it is applied making it difficult and potentially dangerous to use if not handled properly. By contrast, the Byotrol technology is virtually non-toxic to humans, is easy to use, can be applied to delicate surfaces including fabrics and does not corrode surfaces. Equally important is the fact that the Byotrol technology does not require any special equipment or precautions during use making it a practical technology for everyday cleaning.
Possibly the most significant outcome of the study is the fact that Byotrol is delivering a performance advantage over the current gold standard cleaning technologies and is several times more effective than ordinary cleaners used on a day-to-day basis.
As well as potentially replacing dangerous chemicals like bleach, Byotrol could also replace day-to-day cleaners and create a significant reduction in micro-organisms across a hospital which opens up the real possibility of cleaner, safer hospitals throughout the UK.
Central to the success of the Byotrol technology is its residual effectiveness which means it keeps killing micro-organisms for days after it has been applied to a surface. Conventional technologies, including bleach, are only effective for one to two minutes after they have been applied to a surface.
It is this aspect of the technology which scientists believe could offer a wider breakthrough in the battle against all healthcare associated infections because it means hospitals will be able
to move from the current position of decontaminating areas after an outbreak has occurred to the position where they can de-condition surfaces on a regular basis which will drive down levels of micro-organisms on an ongoing basis and thereby reduce levels of HCAI.
Within the past month Byotrol technology has been made available via the NHS Supply Chain to hospitals.
The study has run in four hospital wards within the Manchester Royal Infirmary and has looked at the total number of bacteria and the number of MRSA and C.difficile on frequently touched
surfaces. Two of the wards in the study were cleaned using Byotrol and the other two were cleaned with bleach. The study was supervised by TrusTECH, The NHS’s Innovation Hub in the North West of England.
Commenting on the interim results, Dr Richard Deed of TrusTECH said, “These results show that it is possible to drive significant reductions in one of the most persistent and challenging micro-organisms found within the healthcare system. As well as delivering superior performance compared to bleach, the Byotrol technology is non-toxic, non-corrosive and simple to use and this combination of factors coupled with its performance offers real potential to drive significant reductions in HCAI when combined with staff education, robust processes and clear standard setting.”
Stephen Falder, Deputy Chairman of Byotrol and also one of the inventors of the technology comments, “The results of this study validate what we have been saying for a long time. They show that it is possible to move from a reactive cleaning regime to a proactive one that looks to drive down infection levels in the long term.
“These results show that Byotrol technology is significantly better than chlorine-based cleaners and they are the current gold standard for the NHS. Byotrol technology is several orders of magnitude better than conventional cleaners used on a day-to-day basis and the fact that our technology has recently been made available to the NHS raises the possibility of a move from disinfection to decontamination and the prospect of cleaner, safer hospitals for everyone.”