We were honored by Textile World’s coverage this month. The article did a good job of summarizing the reason we are developing this fiber technology. Healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) are a significant problem that kill almost 100,000 people each year in the US alone. Sadly as was seen in the recent stories about the 2011 superbug outbreak at NIH, hand hygiene and other current practices are insufficient to the challenge. We are developing continuously active fabrics based on proprietary integration technology and a complex element compound. Once these textiles complete a thorough government review, PurThread will introduce privacy curtains, scrubs, bed linens and other fabric products used in healthcare facilities with the goal of reducing bioburden on these soft surfaces, helping to break the chain of pathogen transmission from those surfaces to healthcare worker hands that all too frequently form the bus network delivering pathogens to patients.
The article refers to both the study showing that 92 percent of traditional hospital privacy curtains became contaminated within one week of being laundered, and an upcoming peer-reviewed study of the efficacy of PurThread privacy curtains in reducing bioburden on the curtains themselves. In developing these products we are focusing not only on delivering fabric surfaces that will make a measurable difference in tough clinical settings, but also on making fabrics that have a soft, comfortable feel and that require no special handling or laundry protocols.
We extend our thanks to Textile World for the recognition.
