NEW HORIZONS — Silver used against bacteria

Bacterial infections are beginning to defy all antibiotics, and hospitals are finding bacteria increasingly difficult to eradicate as resistant strains develop, sometimes changing their natural structure to fight off antibiotics. The application of more toxic antibiotics is not an option, since these concentrated doses pose a threat to patients.

An answer to this dilemma may be silver, which de-activates virtually all known bacteria and extracellular viruses. The metal is also non-toxic to humans in low concentrations.

However, one difficulty in using silver is that it reacts with other systems in the body. For example, if it meets with chlorides, the silver becomes exhausted before reaching its target. This problem can be fixed by putting silver in a system that allows it to be released slowly, making some of it available further along its path.

A U.S. firm has introduced a new system in which ionic silver is contained in a polymer wrap that facilitates a controlled release. When placed in the desired area, the polymer will maintain silver’s antimicrobial efficacy without reacting to everything around it. This system, named Arglaes, has been available in Britain for two years and was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an antimicrobial barrier dressing for use in that country.

Arglaes has been used at a Kansas City hospital to control infections in young patients for whom other medical options had failed. In one case, in which a patient developed candida (yeast infection) in his chest, the silver dressing was used to heal the infection, as well as prevent its spread and the possibility of additional surgery.

– The preceding is an excerpt from Silver News, a publication of The Silver Institute, based in Washington, D.C.