Antimicrobial Performance of Innovative Functionalized Surfaces Based on Enamel Coatings: The Effect of Silver-Based Additives on the Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity

Frequently touched surfaces (FTS) that are contaminated with pathogens are one of the main sources of nosocomial infections, which commonly include hospital-acquired and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAIs are considered the most common adverse event that has a significant burden on the pu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hamza Ur Rehman, Francesca Russo, Massimo Calovi, Orietta Massidda, Stefano Rossi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/3/2364
Description
Summary:Frequently touched surfaces (FTS) that are contaminated with pathogens are one of the main sources of nosocomial infections, which commonly include hospital-acquired and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAIs are considered the most common adverse event that has a significant burden on the public’s health worldwide currently. The persistence of pathogens on contaminated surfaces and the transmission of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens by way of healthcare surfaces, which are frequently touched by healthcare workers, visitors, and patients increase the risk of acquiring infectious agents in hospital environments. Moreover, not only in hospitals but also in high-traffic public places, FTS play a major role in the spreading of pathogens. Consequently, attention has been devoted to developing novel and alternative methods to tackle this problem. This study planned to produce and characterize innovative functionalized enameled coated surfaces supplemented with 1% AgNO<sub>3</sub> and 2% AgNO<sub>3</sub>. Thus, the antimicrobial properties of the enamels against relevant nosocomial pathogens including the Gram-positive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and the Gram-negative <i>Escherichia coli</i> and the yeast <i>Candida albicans</i> were assessed using the ISO:22196:2011 norm.
ISSN:1661-6596
1422-0067