A study funded by C.R. Bard has found that if ventilator tubes are coated with silver, the risk of gravely ill patients catching pneumonia is reduced by 36%, Reuters reports. Bacterial pneumonia is one of the most insidious hospital-acquired conditions, and patients can get it from infections caused by ventilator tubes. Half of the antibiotics used in hospital intensive care units are prescribed to help prevent bacterial pneumonia in patients put on ventilators. Silver is widely used as an antimicrobial agent and has been shown to reduce bacterial pneumonia infections in animals. So Bard wanted to see if a silver coating would help reduce the infections in humans. The study tested the coated tubes between 2002 and 2006 on 1500 patients expected to be placed on a ventilator for more than 24 hours. When all was said and done, 4.8% of those with silver-coated tubes developed ventilator-associated pneumonia, compared with 7.5% of patients who were on ventilators with uncoated tubes. The coating also appears to have delayed the onset of pneumonia in the patients who did contract it. There was no impact on death rates, however.
Kudos to Bard for stepping up to the plate to enable these findings to come to light. Ventilator makers should start using coatings on their tubes, if they haven’t already.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Thank you for your help!