Updated June 09, 2015.

It's a problem that has many experts confounded. The past decade has seen stronger cleaning agents brought to market, and more rigorous cleaning protocols enacted in healthcare facilities. By most counts, hand-washing programs are followed well. Yet healthcare acquired infections continue to rise.

Current statistics show that two million new infections are acquired while in healthcare facilities every year, and 100,000 of those end in death.

It is also estimated that 80% of those infections are acquired by touch.

Some scientists believe that no matter how strong the cleaning agent, eventually bacteria will adapt new strains that can continue to survive. Another problem: You can devise strict cleaning protocols all you want and log that into your Environmental Services or Housekeeping Policy Manual, but they only work if they are executed as thoroughly as planned.

Antimicrobial Copper and Charleston's Ronald McDonald House

Ronald McDonald Houses are intended to be a home-away-from home for children and their families while the child needs close medical attention during treatment and recovery. Often, the child undergoes such treatment and recovery while in a nearby hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The Ronald McDonald House provides a more comfortable environment for the family to stay close to the hospital while the child undergoes some form of long-term care.

Read: Products for Progress in Your ICU

At the end of 2011, and into early 2012, the Ronald McDonald House of Charleston renovated many of its high-touch surfaces from traditional materials such as stainless steel, laminate, and wood, by replacing them with solid copper-based metals like bronze and brass alloys.

Antimicrobial Copper is the only surface registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continuously kill 99.9% of the bacteria that cause Healthcare Acquired Infections within two hours of contact.

The Evidence

The study that inspired this retrofit of high-touch materials was funded by the Department of Defense. The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) conducted the study, and published preliminary results in October 2011. The lab results were so impressive the Ronald McDonald House, MUSC, and a group of industry leaders decided to implement these benefits in a real-life scenario immediately.

The Disclaimer: Continue to Clean!

The EPA promotes guidelines for the proper cleaning and care of copper surfaces to ensure that the antimicrobial properties will work. These surfaces must be cleaned to work in tandem with the inherent germ-killing properties of copper. But unlike steel and other metals and surfaces, 99.9% of the bacteria that lands on copper surfaces will die within two hours as long as the usual cleaning protocol is followed. On other metals like stainless steel, and metals containing silver, bacteria can live and grow for weeks despite cleaning.

Any cleaning agent typically used in medical facilities can be used safely on copper. And copper is safe for humans to touch. Normal tarnishing or wear of copper surfaces will not diminish its antimicrobial properties.

While copper-based metals are being used as table tops in dining rooms, cafes, and other places where people eat, copper is not approved for direct food packaging and contact. Eating at a copper table top makes sense for the infection prevention benefits, but food should not be eaten directly from a copper surface.

Copper is 100% recyclable as well.

The Bacteria

Here is the exact list of bacteria that has been proven to die within two hours 99.9% of the time with proper cleaning:

• MRSA
• Vancomycin-ResistantEnterococcus faecalis (VRE)
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Enterobacter aerogenes
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• E. coli O157:H7

Examples of High-Touch Surfaces

These are some of the high-touch surfaces that were replaced in the Ronald McDonald House Project:

• doorknobs
• sinks
• faucets
• grab rails
• cabinet pulls
• tabletops
• stair railings
• chair arms