Wood materials for limiting the bacterial reservoir on surfaces in hospitals: would it be worthwhile to go further?

• Published in: Future microbiology Vol. 15; no. 15; pp. 1431 - 1437
• Main Authors: T Munir, Muhammad, Aviat, Florence, Lepelletier, Didier, Pape, Patrice Le, Dubreil, Laurence, Irle, Mark, Federighi, Michel, Belloncle, Christophe, Eveillard, Matthieu, Pailhoriès, Hélène
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Future Medicine Ltd 01-10-2020; Future Medicine
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Disease control; E coli; Gram-positive bacteria; hospital environment; infection control; Life Sciences; Microorganisms; Nosocomial infections; Pathogens; Quercus petraea; Species; Staphylococcus infections; Wood; France; Acinetobacter baumannii; hospital environment; infection control; wood; Quercus petraea; Staphylococcus aureus
• ISSN: 1746-0913; 1746-0921
• DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2019-0339

To assess the activity of
(oak) on five bacterial species/genus frequently involved in hospital-acquired infections for evaluating the interest of going further in exploring the possibilities of using untreated wood as a material in the hospital setting.
We studied the activity of
by the disk diffusion method.
was active on
and
complex, two bacterial species particularly resistant in the hospital environment, independently from their resistance to antibiotics, and was slightly active on
. Concurrently,
was not active on Enterococci and
.
Overall, untreated wood material presented antimicrobial properties that could have an impact on the cross-transmission of certain bacterial species in healthcare settings.