2017 CHAIR Accomplishments

• Started a research project on the durability of 3 types of copper alloys with their reaction to hospital grade disinfectants in four Canadian hospitals: Vancouver General Hospital, Children’s Hospital of BC, Mt Sinai Hospital – Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre – Toronto.

• Copper, Adenosine Triphosphate Bioluminescence (ATPB), Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Transplantation, Bone Marrow Infection Control, Environmental Monitoring, American Journal of Infection Control, August 2019 and AMMI, July 2017.

This pilot project assessed the impact of re-engineered rooms on bacterial bioburden and protein load / organic matter as measured by colony counts and ATP bioluminescence. Nine patients with acute myeloid leukemia were randomized to a regular private room or re-engineered room with copper on high-touch surfaces, titanium dioxide coating on walls, water filters on bathroom faucets and shower heads and wall mounted ultraviolet C light in dedicated washrooms. Weekly RODAC cultures of air, water, and high-touch surfaces as well as ATP bioluminescence (ATPB) testing were performed during this 18-month long project.

 

Average ATPB RLU in standard rooms was 500.8 ± 707.9 RLU compared to reengineered rooms of 71.9 ± 302.6 RLU (p<0.0001). Copper alloy surfaces in re-engineered rooms contributed to an overall 85.7% reduction in RLU compared to standard room surfaces. Overall average RODAC™ plate count in standard rooms was 73.02 ± 301.3 CFU/plate compared to the overall average RODAC™ plate count for copper surfaces of 7.21 ± 17.7 CFU/plate (p=0.008). Copper alloy surfaces in re-engineered rooms contributed to an overall 90.1% reduction in CFU/plate compared to standard room surfaces. In a regression model that fit copper (Y/N), UVC exposure, surface type, and patient, copper surfaces were independently

associated with a lower bioburden compared to non-copper surfaces.

 

GEnBMT (Genomics and Engineering for BMT) Project Vancouver General Hospital Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 

NEWS RELEASE: Are self-disinfecting surfaces the “Midas” touch for reducing hospital infections?

Poster GEnBMT Project

 

        

 

 

REENGINEERED BMT ROOMS - AMMI 2017 - TWONG edited RD July 2 2017

 

 

               

 

Project Role: Project Manager for Product Acquisition and Logistics and Scheduling of Clinical Testing

 

• Self-sanitizing Hand Hygiene Sink Study - Class 1, Franke, 2017.

This study compared daily drain trap ATP readings from two identical self-sanitizing sinks, installed and used daily in an industrial setting. The ROS generator of sink 1 was turned on and the ROS generator of sink 2 was turned off in the first week. In the second week they were reversed. ATP counts increased steadily from new when the ROS generator was turned off. The ATP counts remained low or decreased steadily when the ROS generator was turned on.

 

 

Project Role: Project Manager for Product Acquisition and Logistics and Scheduling of Clinical Testing

 

• Engineered Infection Prevention: A New World, Richard Dixon, CHAIR Newsletter.