Turning up the heat on hospital hygiene
April 1st 2007

Phil Marris, director and general manager of Jaga Heating Products, explains the benefits of Jaga's MRSA-beating Maxi LST anti-microbial radiator

Hospitals in the UK are becoming worryingly synonymous with MRSA. More and more cases of hospital acquired infections are being reported across the country. With the threat of multi-drug resistant bacteria on the increase, hospitals face increased pressure to tackle hygiene problems and stop the spread of infection.

So just exactly how much consideration should be given to the hygiene of a HVAC system? According to the Health Protection Agency there were 3,391 MRSA bloodstream infections recorded between April and September 2006.

Other official figures show that about 15% of reported cases result in death, while even more alarmingly the number of deaths is doubling every three years.We hear plenty of reports about the importance of medical staff and visitors washing and drying their hands properly and applying antimicrobial gel scrub before and after seeing patients alongside the importance of clean bed linen and medical equipment.

However, it is not often that we are warned about the harm a dirty, dusty radiator lurking in the corner of the room just inches away from a patient's bed can cause.

Warm radiator surfaces are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria.

Systems are seldom cleaned and even when they are it can be a difficult and fiddly task.This leaves bacteria with plenty of opportunity to fester and multiply rapidly, increasing the risk to patients in the ward. In a healthcare location this poses an even greater risk than to healthy people because the patients will tend to have lower immune systems and be much more vulnerable to infection.

The greatest risk is to patients who are very ill, or have wounds or open sores such as bed-sores or burns.The sores or wounds may become infected with MRSA and the infection can be difficult to treat.

An unclean HVAC system poses further health risks, particularly to those prone to suffering from allergies.Allergens such as dust mite, mould, dust, skin cell flakes and bacteria can be critical to building occupants or allergy sufferers.Add to this the warm environment of a heating system and the problem is exacerbated; the bacteria are encouraged to multiply.Whilst most common allergies might not pose the same threat to someone as catching an MRSA virus, it is still an important consideration. Particularly with young children, where a large proportion of children are affected with Asthma for example, a dirty HVAC system could lead to life-long suffering.The charity Asthma UK states that in the UK alone there are 1.1 million children with asthma; this is as many as 1 in 10.

One of the triggers for asthma is mould resulting from excess moisture in a building.Again a heating system provides the perfect breeding ground for mould to spread. Being proactive in preventing this kind of build up and keeping the system clean and hygienic will save time, money and a lot of aggravation and irritation.

Jaga Heating Products has developed the Maxi LST anti-microbial radiator specifically for healthcare locations where the risk to patients from dangerous bacteria is higher.The radiator includes a silver ion impregnated anti-microbial coating that prevents harmful bacteria from reproducing on its surface. Fully tested and certified it prevents the spread of so-called 'superbugs' such as MRSA.The system works on contact; the active silver ions in the coating disrupt the key cell functions which stop the microbes from operating, growing or even reproducing.With healthcare locations in mind, these heating systems from Jaga have been designed with a low surface temperature to avoid burns and injury to patients and visitors.They include pencil-proof grilles that can be specified to virtually eliminate the possibility of smaller objects or waste falling into or being inserted into the casing and locks are provided to prevent unauthorized removal of the casing.The soft rounded design of the radiator also minimizes the possibility of injury from falls to the units.

Although HVAC hygiene is only a part of the effort required to minimise infection rates, it has a valuable role in delivering greater improvements in hospital hygiene as a whole.

More articles from Jaga Heating Products UK Ltd: