SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Medizone
International, Inc. (MZEI:OB, MZEI:QB). In what is believed
to be an important first, an entire ward at a public hospital
remains 100% free from MRSA for 6 months after a major outbreak is
quashed – thanks to the introduction of a new hospital room
disinfection technology.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140123/SF51221)
In early June 2013, seven patient
rooms on a 14 room ward at Quinte Health Care's Belleville General
Hospital in Ontario, Canada were
quarantined after being hit by a rapidly spreading strain of
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA is one of
the most common causes of serious staph infections acquired in
hospitals, globally.
Dr. Dick Zoutman, Chief of Staff
for the hospital, was quoted as saying, "On average we have had one
or two new MRSA cases per month on the ward. This is in
keeping with averages being reported within the health care system
nationally. In June we noted a rapidly spreading MRSA problem
on the ward that reached seven rooms over a short period of
time. That is when we began using Medizone International's
AsepticSure® room disinfection system. It is the only system
we know of that can actually eliminate 100% of infective pathogens
with a single room treatment. We have learned that obtaining
even a 99.9% bacterial kill is not enough, as the remaining 0.1% of
bacteria immediately begin growing back causing the problem of
infection to start all over again in a few short hours. What is
more, AsepticSure is proven to kill bacterial spores that can lurk
in hospital rooms for months." Dr. Zoutman is also a co-inventor
along with Dr. Michael E. Shannon of
the AsepticSure system.
"The results were immediate. The MRSA was immediately and
entirely eliminated from the ward. The AsepticSure system was
straightforward to use and quick, with complete room disinfection
occurring in an hour. To prove to ourselves that the AsepticSure
system was working, we performed cultures of 120 surfaces of the
treated rooms before and after the AsepticSure system was used. The
results were amazing. Virtual complete elimination of all bacteria
on the room surfaces after AsepticSure was used in the rooms."
"However, the longer term effects were not fully appreciated
until after a six-month follow up had been completed. Only then was
it realized that not only had the rooms remained free of MRSA, no
further cases of MRSA were noted on the ward during this
period."
"It is noteworthy in this regard," stated Dr. Michael E. Shannon, President of Medizone
International and a former Director General of the Laboratory
Center for Disease Control, Health Canada, "that in addition to
full room disinfection, all support equipment associated with each
contaminated room were also disinfected using AsepticSure – and
this may have played an important role as well in virtually
eliminating MRSA from the ward. These mobile pieces of patient care
equipment are notoriously hard to clean by hand. AsepticSure made
disinfecting them very easy.
"Given that hospital acquired infections are now considered to
be the fourth leading cause of death in both the United States and Canada, this could be a game changer."
"Not only has this result at Quinte Health Care Belleville
General Hospital demonstrated a new standard for what a clean
hospital could be," stated Dr. Shannon, "but thousands of lives
might be saved with the wide adoption of AsepticSure while actually
reducing the overall cost of hospital care by avoiding the cost of
treating these largely preventable infections. The cost of which
the United States Center for Disease Control places at $25,000 per new infection."
This Press Release may contain certain forward looking
statements that could involve substantial risks and uncertainties,
including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical
studies, economic conditions, product and technology development,
production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products,
competitive environment, successful testing and government
regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company's
filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For press information on Medizone International, please
contact:
John Pentony, Investor Relations,
Medizone International, Inc.
T: (415) 331-0202
E: j.pentony@medizoneint.com
Gary Hanauer, Media Contact
Medizone International, Inc.
T: (510) 686-1238
E: GarHan@aol.com
For more information, visit: http://www.medizoneint.com
Email: operations@medizoneint.com
SOURCE Medizone International, Inc.