Copper (Cu) for Reducing Environmental Healthcare Associated Infections (CuRE HAI): A 10-year pragmatic copper...

Health care-associated infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. Our Copper for Reducing Environmental Healthcare-Associated Infections (CuRE HAI) study evaluated the effectiveness of introducing a novel copper-oxide infused polymer resin surface in the immediate environment surrounding a hospitalized patient.

The study was conducted between January 2014 and December 2023. Several high-touch surfaces were replaced with 16-20% copper-oxide-infused surfaces. All hospital admissions each month were monitored for onset of HAIs using predefined criteria. A Bayesian hierarchical Poisson model was used to estimate the effect of the intervention on monthly HAI rates.

There were 543 HAIs and 231,752 bed days of care (BDOC) in the 120-month study period, a mean of 27.6 HAIs per 10,000 BDOC and 20.8 HAIs per 10,000 BDOC in the pre- and post-copper installation periods, respectively. The estimated incidence rate ratio for copper across all infections was 0.51 (0.25, 0.95).

The CuRE HAI study suggests that implementation of novel copper components in a patient care environment may prevent HAIs. The continuous antimicrobial and antisporicidal activity provided by the copper surfaces likely explains at least some of the observed decline in HAI rates.