Antimicrobial efficacy of a novel silver hydrogel dressing compared to two common silver burn wound dressings: Acticoat™ and PolyMem Silver®

A novel burn wound hydrogel dressing has been previously developed which is composed of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt with silver nanoparticles. This study compared the antimicrobial efficacy of this novel dressing to two commercially available silver dressings; Acticoat (TM) and PolyMem Silver (R). Three different antimicrobial tests were used: disc diffusion, broth culture, and the Live/Dead (R) Baclight (TM) bacterial viability assay. Burn wound pathogens (P. aeruginosa, MSSA, A. baumannii and C. albicans) and antibiotic resistant strains (MRSA and VRE) were tested. All three antimicrobial tests indicated that Acticoat (TM) was the most effective antimicrobial agent, with inhibition zone lengths of 13.9-18.4 mm. It reduced the microbial inocula below the limit of detection (10(2) CFU/ml) and reduced viability by 99% within 4 h. PolyMem Silver had no zone of inhibition for most tested micro-organisms, and it also showed poor antimicrobial activity in the broth culture and Live/Dead Bacight (TM) assays. Alarmingly, it appeared to promote the growth of VRE. The silver hydrogel reduced most of the tested microbial inocula below the detection limit and decreased bacterial viability by 94-99% after 24 h exposure. These results support the possibility of using this novel silver hydrogel as a burn wound dressing in the future. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights resented.