Antibacterial effect of alternating current against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeroginosa

Background — The use of physical means as an aid for modern medicine in the champion against pathogenic microorganisms holds new approach that recently have begun to be widely recognized. The use of an additional physical means, alternating currents, introduced to inhibit bacterial growth and enhance disinfectant potency. The present study aimed to determine the best frequency of alternating currents in prevention of bacterial growth and to detect the efficacy of alternating currents on disinfectant bactericidal potency. Material and Methods — Electric field strength of 6 and 10 V/cm 2 at 50 KHz, 1 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz was applied continuously during lag phases of staphylococcus aureus and pseudomonas aeroginosa. Then Changes in bacterial growth were investigated by the time kill method. Efficacy alternating currents on the current disinfectants bactericidal potency (microzed, deconex, Dettol and glutaraldehyde) were evaluated by MIC and MBC. Results — Alternating current at the low voltage and high frequency (10 V/cm 2 at 20 MHz) reduced the growth of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa effectively. Electric field strength of 10 V/cm 2 at 20 MHz showed a better effect on the low level disinfectants such as Dettol and Deconex compared to the high level disinfectants such as Glutaraldehyde, Microzed GP-H and Aniosyme. Conclusion — Detection of a suitable form of alternating current is necessary in the future. This method may be applied as a complementary for eliminating of conductive and semi-conductive surfaces of hospital and increase disinfectant bactericidal potency.