Derma Sciences, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: DSCI), a specialty medical device and pharmaceutical company focused on advanced wound care, today released an independent laboratory report indicating that the company's BIOGUARD barrier gauze dressings exhibit high antiviral efficacy against the H1N1 virus. This new information increases the applicability of the dressings, which have already been shown to have high efficacy against virulent bacteria such as MRSA.
BCS Laboratories Inc. of Gainesville, Florida exposed two varieties of BIOGUARD dressings to quantities of the Influenza A (H1N1; ATCC VR-1469) virus for a period of 24 hours. At the end of this interval, quantities of the virus were found to be reduced in both dressing types by an average percentage of 99.93%.
Although human-to-human transmission of H1N1 virus can occur through coughing or sneezing by people infected with the influenza virus, or by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching one's mouth or nose, the potential also exists of transmission via cross-contamination during wound dressing changes. This is especially true if the dressing is soaked with wound fluid, which can increase the time the virus survives in the dressing. When an infected wound's dressing is changed, pathogens within the dressing are potentially made airborne, increasing the risk of infection to those in the immediate vicinity. Wound care patients also run the risk of being infected by a virus as their dressings are changed. The H1N1 virus can be easily transmitted from the wound dressings to the hands of healthcare workers, while small airborne droplets of wound fluid with H1N1 can be inhaled by doctors, nurses or patients.
"This laboratory report provides timely evidence that BIOGUARD dressings can have a role to play, not only as an antibacterial in infection prevention programs, but also as a tool to help decrease the spread of the H1N1 virus," said Edward J. Quilty, Chairman and CEO of Derma Sciences. "These patented dressings harness the antimicrobial properties of a unique biocide known as Poly(DADMAC), which is inherently bactericidal and has been shown to be nontoxic in the standard battery of required biocompatibility tests."
Quilty added that use of BIOGUARD dressings involve virtually no chance of developing resistant bacterial strains, making the dressing ideal for widespread prophylactic usage. "From a global perspective, our objective is to develop BIOGUARD(TM) as the cost-effective dressing that clinicians utilize for infection prevention. Its patented design makes it an ideal dressing for this use."
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