New impregnated catheter inhibits superbugs
Device is active against drug-resistant bacteria
The Release NF catheter soon may become an important weapon in the hands of your hospital’s infection control specialists. Impregnated with nitrofurazone, an agent long recognized as antibacterial that kills bacteria by a different mechanism from that of true antibiotics, the new catheter has been shown to reduce both the incidence of hospital-acquired infections and the spread and opportunity for mutation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The catheter permits sustained release of a controlled dosage directly into the urinary tract to prevent the onset of infection.
Recent tests of the new catheter, manufactured by Rochester Medical in Stewartville, MN, show it to be broadly active against many of the types of multidrug-resistant bacteria that are associated with hospital-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by Foley catheterization. A total of 80 clinical isolates, derived primarily from the urine of infected patients, were tested in vitro against Release NF catheter sections and control catheter sections. The tests included both antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant strains of the same species. The following table shows the species of resistant bacteria against which the catheter was active and their associated antibiotic resistance patterns.
The catheter segments also were active against susceptible Enterococcus faecium, but did not inhibit the tested strain of vancomycin-resistant E. faecium. Previous clinical tests of the catheter showed a sixfold reduction in bacterial UTIs during the first five days of catheterization; the great majority of hospital patients are catheterized no longer than five days. Now, the new tests show the catheter’s effect on the antibiotic-resistant strains of these bacteria.
Commenting on the test results, the investigators said, "We were impressed to see that the medicated catheter was every bit as active against multi-drug resistant strains of five of six bacterial species we tested as it was against their antibiotic-susceptible counterparts, whereas the control catheter had no activity whatsoever. . . . our results suggest that the medicated catheter should be as clinically effective against many of the new multi-drug resistant bacteria as it is against traditional antibiotic-susceptible strains."
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