Our Technology

Healthcare Associated Infections

Hospital Associated infection (HAI’s), also called nosocomial infections, are the 4th leading cause of death in the US behind Cancer, Heart Disease and Strokes. Nosocomial infections first appear between 48 hours and four days after a patient is admitted to a health care facility and normally occur in the urinary tract, a surgical site, the lungs or bloodstream. Hospital stays for patients who acquire these types of infections usually increase an average of 7-10 days, at an incremental treatment cost of over $30,000 per patient. The total annual cost to the healthcare industry totals nearly $45 billion much of which is preventable.

The Soft Surface Issue

Soft surfaces fabrics like other environmental surfaces play an important role in the transmission of bacteria in the health care setting. Even though soft surfaces constitute 90% of the patient environment, they are often overlooked in everyday prevention practices. Multiple studies have shown that soft surfaces in hospitals can harbor deadly bacteria, causing recontamination during frequent contact. The potential for survival and spread of pathogens to and from humans and soft surface fabrics (clothing, curtains or linens) is shown by numerous studies. Effectiveness in controlling bacterial contamination of soft surfaces – has been extremely limited. Laundering alone isn’t effective at addressing this challenge, because fabrics begin to re-contaminate immediately after being put in use.

The Solution

SilverCare Plus antimicrobial performance fabrics are specifically designed to reduce both soft surface contamination and lateral transmission of bacterial causing infections from and between patients, visitors and health care personnel. Silver Care Plus with X-Static eliminates 99.9% of bacteria directly on the fabric, providing ongoing, comprehensive and proactive anti-microbial performance, reducing environmental contamination without additional cleaning protocols, behavior modification or training. The antibacterial technology behind X-Static is safe and has been proven time over to be the industry standard. Based on a permanent bonding process, X-Static silver yarn is weaved into every one of our SilverCare Plus fabrics. SilverCare Plus antimicrobial performance fabrics are soft to the touch, durable, performance ready and guaranteed to provide antibacterial protection throughout the life of each product. Silver Care Plus is an effective soft surface bacterial management solution and plays an important part in any health care facility’s overall bacteria-reduction strategy.