Results References Discussion and Implications Conclusions Objective Background Computer Keyboard Covers Impregnated with a Novel Antimicrobial Polymer Significantly Reduce Microbial Contamination

Figure 1: 97.8 % reduction of viable MRSA on Biosafe material at T = 240 min. Contact with contaminated computer keyboards may contribute to the transmission of healthcare-acquired infections. A novel antimicrobial polymer (Biosafe HM 4100) can be incorporated into a variety of materials, including the polyurethane (PU) used to make keyboard covers. The study objective was to determine whether plastic keyboard covers compounded with HM 4100 effectively minimize the survival of bacterial species commonly present on environmental surfaces in the healthcare setting. Polyurethane material with and without HM 4100 was obtained from the manufacturer (Biosafe, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA). Suspensions of approximately 1.5E+07 cfu/mL of four test organisms was prepared and 40 µL of the organism suspension was placed onto the material. Test organisms included Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant (MRSA), ATCC No. 43300; Enterococcus faecalis, vancomycin-resistan