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| |  Study Shows Acticoat Dressings’ Anti-fungal Effectiveness EXETER, NH -- September 21, 1999 -- In the August 1999 issue of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Infection Control, an in vitro study comparing Westaim Biomedical’s Acticoat® dressings to conventional antimicrobial products found the Acticoat dressings provided the fastest and broadest-spectrum fungicidal action. Burn wound patients with fungal infections have a mortality rate of more than 90 percent. The risk of contracting a fungal infection has increased through the 1980s from 2 infections per 1,000 discharged patients to 3.8 today. One reason for this increase may be the opportunity created through successful bacterial management: now that sophisticated anti-bacterial therapies can prevent bacteria from growing, the fungi, (which are not normally controlled by the same therapies that control bacteria), are able to grow uninhibited. The in vitro study compared Acticoat dressings to three conventional antimicrobial burn wound treatments: silver nitrate, mafenide acetate and silver sulfadiazine. Acticoat dressings had the fastest kill rate, and were effective against more fungal species. Acticoat dressings create an optimal environment for wound healing by keeping the wound moist and free from microbes such as bacteria and fungi. They also require fewer dressing changes than conventional burn treatments, and therefore reduce the number of times the wound is exposed to airborne pathogens such as fungi. Layered with nanocrystalline silver, the Acticoat dressings ensure a sustained release of silver, which has long been recognized for its antibacterial and antifungal properties. As silver ions are consumed, additional silver is released to produce a long-lasting, effective antimicrobial barrier against approximately 150 organisms. Currently used in more than 70 burn centers across North America, Acticoat dressings have been used on more than 1,500 patients in the past year. As well as burns, the dressing can be used on graft and donor sites, chronic wounds (including pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, etc.) and surgical wounds.
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