Antifungal activity of the silver ion against contaminated fabric.
An anti-fungal efficacy test of the silver laundry machine, which electrically generates silver ions, was carried out against four fungi--Trichophyton rubrum, Candida albicans, Microsporum canis and Aspergillus flavus--which cause major fungal infection in humans and animals. Compared with the conventional laundry machine, washing with the silver laundry machine regardless of detergent use was effective against most of the fungi with about 4 log(10) (CFU ml(-1)) reduction and eliminated almost all the fungi when using the detergent. Moreover, the cleaning activity of the silver laundry machine with detergent was higher than that of the conventional laundry machine with detergent both after wash and after final spin step against all four examined fungi. The silver laundry machine may be useful in preventing skin irritation caused by fungi-contaminated fabric in the hospital and in the home.
Jung
Woo Kyung
WK
Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National Univerisity, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
So Hyun
SH
Koo
Hye Cheong
HC
Shin
Sook
S
Kim
Jun Man
JM
Park
Young Kyung
YK
Hwang
Sun Young
SY
Yang
Hyesoon
H
Park
Yong Ho
YH
D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000187:drug effects*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003902:Detergents / Q000494:pharmacology; D008864:Microsporum / Q000187:drug effects*; D012834:Silver / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014249:Trichophyton / Q000187:drug effects*
D000935:Antifungal Agents; D003902:Detergents; D012834:Silver