A new line of defence

As the world’s first non-leaching antimicrobial glove, GloveOn Protect is the next game-changing innovation for reducing healthcare associated infections (HAIs). Our AMG technology has been designed to reduce bacterial loads that could be transferred to patients from their environment by up to 99.999%, and can be used in settings such as hospitals, emergency services and aged-care facilities.

Health and financial impacts

In Australia, the average incidence of HAIs from 2010 to 2016 came to 165,000 annually (Mitchell et al. 2017). It is of tremendous importance to address the problem of antimicrobial resistance and help prevent the cost of HAIs. If no action is taken to halt the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria, by the year 2050 we will see 300 million untimely deaths at a cost of $100 trillion to the world economy (Kashef et al., 2017).

A novel approach to HAIs

GloveOn Protect adds to the multimodal approach for combating HAIs and preventing contamination and transmission of pathogens from healthcare workers in contact with patients and their environment. Our AMG technology has been created to work alongside existing infection control methods of best practice, including hand hygiene, isolation and staffing, surface disinfection and antibiotics.

GloveOn Protect is easy to use, non-toxic, non-cytotoxic, non-irritant and non-sensitising on skin, and a new line of defence to break the chain of infection across healthcare settings. The key benefits of this glove include:

• Non-leaching to provide safety to both patients and workers
• Effective against a wide range of bacteria including staphylococci and enterococci
• A non-specific kill mechanism to reduce the likelihood of bacterial resistance

How AMG technology works

Photosensitisers, a non-toxic dye, is the catalyst behind our AMG technology and is bound to the outer surface of the glove. When exposed to light, the photosensitisers channel energy to any ground state molecular oxygen (³O₂) it makes contact with, resulting in the creation of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) known as singlet oxygen (¹O₂) (Kashef et al., 2017).

Figure 1. Photodynamic Reaction of AMG Technology

This ROS attacks the microbe’s proteins and lipids, resulting in the destruction of harmful bacteria which get transferred to the glove from the patient’s environment.

The photodynamic reaction of this promising approach to microbial infections is captured in Figure 1.

Bacterial efficacy

According to the ASTM D7907 Standard Test Methods for Determination of Bactericidal Efficacy on the Surface of Medical Examination Gloves, antimicrobial gloves are effective in killing antibiotic resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE).

MRSA and VRE are known high-profile microbes responsible for HAIs in healthcare facilities across the globe. Studies have shown that patients residing in rooms previously occupied by MRSA and VRE infected patients had a higher risk of contracting these pathogens (Russotto et al., 2015).

The antimicrobial properties of GloveOn Protect have been proven to kill up to 99.999% of microbes, such as Staphylococcus aureus, in a short time of five minutes.

Help educate your team today

To find out more about HAIs, the role of medical gloves, AMG technology and frequently asked questions about this latest innovation in infection control, simply head to our website and follow the prompts.

References

1. Kashef, N, Hamblin, MR 2017, ‘Can microbial cells develop resistance to oxidative stress in antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation?’, Drug Resistance Updates, vol. 31, pp. 31-42
2. Mitchell, BG, Shaban, RZ, MacBeth, D, Wood, CJ, Russo, PL 2017, ‘The burden of healthcare-associated infection in Australian hospitals: A systematic review of the literature’, Infection, Disease & Health, vol. 22, pp. 117-128.
3. Russotto, V, Cortegiani, A, Raineri, SM, Giarratano, A 2015, ‘Bacterial contamination of inanimate surfaces and equipment in the intensive care unit’, Journal of Intensive Care, vol. 3, accessed 9 August 2017, <https://jintensivecare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40560-015-0120-5>
4. Wainwright, M, Maisch, T, Nonell, S, Plaetzer, K, Almeida, A, Tegos, GP, Hamblin, MR 2017, ‘Photoantimicrobials–are we afraid of the light?’, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, vol. 17, pp. 49-55.