Single Step Surface Modification of NonFluorinated Polymers for Infection Control

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CR-BSI) occur at an average rate of 5 per 1,000 catheter days in intensive-care units in the United States, resulting in 80,000 episodes of CR-BSI per year. Most cases of CR- BSIs are caused by microorganisms that originate either from the skin of the patient and migrate along the external surface of the catheter (i.e., extraluminally), or from a contaminated catheter hub or tube and migrate along the internal surfaces (i.e., intraluminally). Therefore, successful prevention strategies must reduce colonization of the insertion site, hubs and tubing, minimize microbial spread extraluminally from the skin or intraluminally from the hubs and tubing, and/or inhibit adherence and growth of pathogens that reach the internal segment of the catheter. The ultimate objective is to develop a surface treatment that will simultaneously address all three of these strategies. The goal of this Phase I project is to introduce a unique processing method to demonstrate the feasibility of a single step antimicrobial surface modification that (1) can be applied to the surface of a variety of plastics, including polymers commonly used in catheters, hubs, and medical tubing; (2) can be formed on both the inner and outer surfaces of complex geometries; (3) will inhibit bacterial adhesion by nonspecific oxidative destruction and by electrostatic repulsion of negatively charged bacterial cell walls; (4) will be effective against bacteria, fungi, and spores; (5) and will not promote increased antibiotic resistance. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This technology provides a tremendous opportunity to improve the success rate of temporary and permanent medical implant devices that may otherwise cause life-threatening infection complications. Effective infection control technologies such as the one proposed will help alleviate the estimated $5.5 billion per year cost associated with the two million nosocomial infections acquired every year in the US.