title: [Adherence to copper and stainless steel metal coupons of common nosocomial bacterial strains].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Copper has a bactericidal activity against a series of bacterial strains.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure resistance to bacterial adherence of copper (Cu) and stainless steel (SS) metal coupons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bacterial strains causing nosocomial infections in Chile were analyzed. Bacterial adherence was studied using a previously described method based on a system of metal coupons that are immersed in culture media containing the bacteria of interest at room temperature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adherence to Cu and SS coupons was different for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii strains. For these strains, no adherence to Cu coupons occurred during the 48 h observation period compared to a rapidly increasing adherence to SS coupons, with a final colony count of 1.00 E + 07 cfu/mL. For two different Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical strains, inhibition of adherence was not observed on Cu coupons, and colony counts were similar for Cu and SS using the standard inoculum (2-3 x lO7 cfu).A partial decrease in adherence was observed for Cu but not for SS coupons, when a lower inoculum was used.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Copper surfaces represent an interesting option to reduce bacterial contamination in the hospital environment due to its resistance to bacterial adhesión of most of the common nosocomial bacterial strains.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Microbiología, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. vprado@med.uchile.cl
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prado J
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esparza M
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vidal A
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Durán T
mesh_terms: D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003300:Copper; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000502:physiology; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000502:physiology; D013193:Stainless Steel
chemical_list: D013193:Stainless Steel; D003300:Copper