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Superbug-killer in hurry for trials

Patricia Roberts
10/ 8/2004

A BACTERIA-killing cleaner could be the answer to the deadly superbug MRSA which is plaguing Britain's hospitals.

Conquering the bug which kills at least 5,000 patients a year has been declared a top priority by the NHS.

But getting the process into clinical trials for testing is a frustratingly slow business, says the company involved, Steritrox, based in Stockport.

The firm is harnessing the power of ozone to change fresh air into a bacteria killer.

Ozone has been known for years as an anti-bacterial, but the problem is that it is also dangerous to humans.

Now Steritrox, has developed a method of using it to deep-clean, which leaves rooms safe for humans after just a short time.

It says the method, using an electronically produced gas-like vapour, which bathes surfaces, including fabrics, is effective in destroying 99.99 per cent of bacteria such as listeria and E.coli, and is ideal for the food industry, making the industrial preparation of food safer and more hygienic.

But research shows that it can combat MRSA says the company, a medical spin-off from the old-established Bredbury engineering company, TDA solutions, which has taken up the invention of microbiologist Alan Mole, from Worcestershire, who has more than 35 years experience in the field within the food industry.

Dr Matthew Upton, a University of Manchester lecturer in microbiology working at Manchester Royal Infirmary, who has carried out laboratory tests on the process said: "It is well known that ozone can kill these bacteria, but of course it is dangerous to people.

"The company has developed a novel technique which makes an area safe after it has been cleaned in this way, and it does have a lot of potential."

Steritrox managing director Peter Townley says the process has "massive killing power" over bugs, and has proved itself in the food industry, but he says it is the medical market which has the big potential, and the firm is keen to prove the process in hospital trials, but says achieving this is frustratingly slow.

It is hoping talks with the Department of Health which has set up a "fast-track" system to appraise MRSA research, will prove fruitful.

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