Silver pyjamas go on trial to fight MRSA

Pioneering pyjamas and bed linen with cloth containing silver to limit MRSA infections are the subject of a multicentre trial being run by Barts and The London NHS Trust.

Dr Peter Wilson, a consultant microbiologist at the Trust, believes there is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that silver can be used to clear MRSA on the skin and therefore protect vulnerable patients. To prove his case he has enlisted the help of the Lister Hospital in Stevenage and is in discussion with The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich to run two separate clinical trials that will take place over the next 12 months.

'Silver is known to be a very efficient agent against infection and also very safe. These trials will mean we can prove its effectiveness,' said Dr Wilson. 'If it is successful it will transform the way we tackle certain infections, particularly MRSA, and also help to cut costs as this would be a very cost-effective solution compared with traditional methods.'

The trial at the Lister Hospital, part of East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, began this month (February). It will seek to recruit 300 patients, who have tested positive for carrying MRSA on their skin, from the hospital's general medicine and elderly care departments. They will all continue to receive their normal infection control care but in addition 150 patients will receive the silver-lined pyjamas and linen and 150 others will receive standard materials.

At the end of the trial, in approximately 6-12 months, the results of the two groups will be compared to see if the silver pyjamas led to increased MRSA eradication compared with traditional methods.

'The idea behind silver in bed linen and pyjamas, which is used already in a wide range of wound dressings and in cement used during bone operations, is that its contact with the skin may help to get rid of bacteria like MRSA, thus reducing the chance of that patient, or others elsewhere in the hospital, becoming infected,' explained Noel Scanlon, acting director of infection prevention and control at East and North Hertfordshire Trust.

'While time will tell whether or not silver-containing bed linen and pyjamas will have the positive effect anticipated by the researchers, it cannot ever be viewed as a magic bullet that will solve the problem of healthcare-acquired infections forever,' he warned. 'Such initiatives as this can only be added to those we already undertake, like good hand hygiene, aseptic medical procedures, careful use of antibiotics and keeping the patient environment clean.'

It is hoped a second trial will take place at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, where patients who are carrying the bacterium but do not have an MRSA infection will again be split between silver-lined materials and the placebo pyjamas and sheets. The difference in this case will be that patients will not receive any additional antibiotics or other treatments to remove the MRSA bacteria from their skin. By comparing the different trials evidence should be produced to prove or refute silver's effectiveness.