Efficacy of Copper in Reducing Health-Acquired Infections in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Efficacy of Copper in Reducing Health-Acquired Infections and Microbial Burden as Measured on High Touch Surfaces in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. A Controlled Clinical Trial.

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01678612

Enrollment

1012

Registered

2012-09-05

Start date

2012-11-30

Completion date

2013-12-31

Last updated

2014-04-10

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Nosocomial Infections

Keywords

Copper, Health-Acquired Infections, Bacterial Load, Intensive Care Units, Pediatric

Brief summary

Healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) cause substantial patient morbidity and mortality. Commonly touched items in the patient care environment harbor microorganisms that may contribute to HAI risk. The purpose of this study is to assess whether placement of copper-alloy surfaced objects in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) reduce risk of HAI in comparison with non-copper surfaced objects.

Interventions

OTHERCopper-alloy surfaced objects

Room assigned to the Experimental arm will be furnished with copper-alloy surfaced objects,i.e. bed-rails, bed-rail levers, IV poles, nurse workstation, HCW clipboards, sink handles.

Study design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

7 Days to 180 Months

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* patient admitted to PICU * stay at PICU \> 24 hours * informed consent by parent/legal representative

Exclusion criteria

none

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI) incidence density / 1,000 patient-days	Participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, an expected average of 6 days

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Microbial Burden measured on high-touch copper and non-copper surfaced objects	1 year study duration	Total microbial burden and selected bacteria (MRSA,VRE) will be measured twice a month in all bedrails and sink handles of the PICU study site.

Other

Measure	Time frame	Description
Incidence of new events of colonization with selected pathogens per 1000 patient-days at risk	participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, an expected average of 6 days	Patients with negative culture (from skin and mucosa samples) will be sampled at Day 3, Day 6 and discharge.

Countries

Chile

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026