Evaluation of microbiocidal activity of superoxidized water on hospital isolates.

BACKGROUND Prevention of nosocomial infections, pre-operative and post-operative complications is directly linked with effective disinfection and decontamination. Microbial decontamination is the most serious challenge to the today's health care practice despite the abundance of disinfectants and chemicals as there are increasing reports of emergence of resistance to the action of commonly used disinfectants. There is a need to evaluate the efficacy of newer methods of asepsis for better patient management. AIM This study was designed to evaluate the microbiocidal activity of superoxidized water (SOW) on common clinical isolates, ATCC strains, vegetative cells and spores of Bacillus subtilis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bacterial suspensions were treated with SOW and deionized water (control). All the tubes were incubated at 37°C for 0.5, 2.5 and 5.0 min. The number of viable cells was counted. RESULTS All the clinical isolates and ATCC strains were killed within 0.5 min of exposure to the SOW. Vegetative cells and spores of B. subtilis were killed after 5.0 min. CONCLUSION We conclude that SOW is an effective microbiocidal agent for routine hospital use.