• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
ppLogo
  • Featured Content
    • Journal of Health and Healing
    • Blog
    • Thrive in 65
    • Recipes
    • Digital ContentNEW
    • Community Events
  • Research
  • Food Freedom Project
  • Resources
  • Shop
    • Store
    • Digital ContentNEW
    • Product Guide
  • Find a Practitioner
  • About us
    • Vision & Mission
    • Our History
    • Our Printed Journal
    • Leadership
    • Contact Us
Donate
Become a member
header_login_icon-2
Login
cartLogo

Want to read the full Journal?

Join
Price-Pottenger

Access to all articles, new health classes, discounts in our store, and more!

See Member Benefits

Already a member? Log in here

In The News, Winter 2019 – 2020: Copper Hospital Beds Reduce Infection Risk

by PPNF / February 26, 2020

Intensive care unit beds outfitted with copper surfaces harbor an average of 94% less bacteria than conventional plastic hospital beds, a new study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology has found.

Hospital beds are among the most contaminated surfaces in patient care environments, contributing to risk of healthcare-associated infections. The researchers found that nearly 90% of the bacterial samples taken from the tops of plastic bed rails had concentrations considered to be unsafe.

Copper has long been known for its antimicrobial properties, but until recently there have not been acute-care hospital beds designed to encapsulate high-risk surfaces – including rails, foot boards, and bed controls – with the metal. Although such beds are not yet commercially available, it is anticipated that their future use will result in improved patient outcomes.

Michael G. Schmidt, coauthor of the study, said, “The findings indicate that antimicrobial copper beds can assist infection control practitioners in their quest to keep healthcare surfaces hygienic between regular cleanings, thereby reducing the potential risk of transmitting bacteria associated with healthcare-associated infections.”

Sources: Copper hospital beds kill bacteria, save lives. American Society for Microbiology, November 8, 2019. asm.org/Press-Releases/2019/November-1/Copper-Hospital-Beds-Kill-Bacteria,-Save-Lives.

Schmidt MG, et al. Self-disinfecting copper beds sustain terminal cleaning and disinfection (TC&D) effects throughout patient care. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2019; DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01886-19.


Published in the Price-Pottenger Journal of Health & Healing
Winter 2019 – 2020 | Volume 43, Number 3
Copyright © 2019 Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Inc.®
All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Primary Sidebar

Price Pottenger

Read More

Healthy Lifestyle Hormones

An Ancestral Approach to Menopause: Looking to the Past for Modern Wisdom

by Susie Arnett / July 1, 2025
Sustainable Agriculture Vitamins, Minerals & Other Nutrients

The Might of Minerals

by Leah Smith / July 1, 2025
Historical Nutrition

Revisiting Dr. Pottenger’s Cat Study

by Roberta Louis / June 15, 2025

For Members

Making Fitness Fun with Primal Play: An Interview with Darryl Edwards

by Steven Schindler / December 3, 2020
Healthy Lifestyle

Enhancing Fertility: How to Improve Your Reproductive Health

by Stephanie Cold / April 22, 2019
Fertility, Prenatal & Childhood Nutrition
ppWhiteLogo
twitterWhiteLogo
instagramWhiteLogo
facebookWhiteLogo
youtubeWhiteLogo

Featured Content
Blog
Recipes
Thrive in 65
Journal of Health & Healing
Research Archives

Learn
Traditional Diet
What Should I Eat?
Courses
Find a Practitioner

About Us
Vision & Mission
Our History
Leadership
Contact Us

Store
Shop
Cart

Account
Join Us
Member Login

Copyright © 2022 Price – Pottenger 1-800-366-3748 | 619-462-7600 | A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization | Tax ID# 95-6104419

User Agreement

Privacy Policy