Some 100 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada have installed silver-copper ionization systems to eradicate Legionella pneumophila (also known as legionnaire’s disease) from their hot water pipes.
Hospital-acquired Legionnaire’s disease is a major concern for the nation’s caregivers. An analysis of water distribution systems in 15 hospitals in Western Pennsylvania revealed that 60% were contaminated; in Quebec, 68% of 84 hospitals; and in Britain, 70% of 40 hospitals. The organism induces a form of pneumonia so severe that 20% of those infected do not survive.
The appearance of 10 cases of legionnaire’s disease at a Pittsburgh hospital, despite regular application of the long-used superheated water-and-flush method of sanitation, resulted in an exhaustive study there to test the efficacy of silver-copper ion treatment. Before the study, 17 of 26 water fixtures tested positive for the disease.
Following installation of the copper-silver ion treatment device, the presence of Legionella in the first three months dropped to zero. Also, the residual silver and copper ions in the system blocked recolonization of the organism for more than three months.
— The preceding was culled from Silver News, published by the Washington, D.C.-based Silver Institute.
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