Ozone Disinfection to Prevent Nosocomial Infections

Abstract

During the last decade, the resistance of pathogens to antibiotics has increased to a point where we no longer have an effective drug for some strains. This is a complex story, partly due to the extensive use of antibiotics in animal food and the improper use in patients. The result is dramatic because almost every month, we hear of a series of deaths due to incontrollable infections breaking out in hospitals after more or less complex operations and in intensive therapy units. With some approximation, it seems that several thousand deaths could be avoided each year if we could eliminate the resistant bacteria. The problem is so important that some 1000 papers per year report relevant data (Aitken and Jeffries, 2001; Guerrero et al., 2001; Kollef and Fraser, 2001; Olsen et al., 2001; Shiomori et al., 2001; Slonim and Singh, 2001; Stephan et al., 2001; Stover et al., 2001; Wenzel and Edmond, 2001).