A number of studies have shown Ozone to be an effective antimicrobial agent against a range of bacteria including MRSA¹. Ozonated water was shown to be an effective detergent when cleaning hospital mops and wiping cloths contaminated with Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile spores when compared to using standard hot water / bleach cycles².

Objectives: The aim of this project is to assess the efficacy of Ozonated water at different concentration and time intervals to disinfect gauze and surface biofilms of MRSA, or C. difficile spores.

Methods: Suspensions of bacteria were dried on to glass slides or 4 cm² squares of cotton gauze and exposed to 30 ppm ozonated PBS (TherOzone) for various time periods after which the ozone was neutralised with thiosulphate. The resulting biofilms and fabric was sonicated to remove bacteria and viable counts made and compared with samples treated with control buffer.

Results: 10⁶ MRSA in broth suspension; in biofilm or dried on cotton fabric was reduced to 0 cfu/ml after 5 minutes exposure to 30 ppm ozonated water. Only spores of C difficile survived in air on biofilm or fabric. A spore suspension of 10⁵ on fabric was reduced to zero with 5 min exposure to Ozonated water whilst the control samples were not significantly reduced.

Conclusion: Ozonated water was effective at decontaminating MRSA and C difficile when dried on to cotton fabric and solid surfaces and has potential for decontaminating surfaces in hospital wards and bed linen.

1.YAMAYOSHI T, TATSUMI N. 1993. Drugs under Experimental and Clinical Research, 19, 59 – 64.

2 RICE, R., et al 2007. The American Journal of Infection Control, 35(5), E31-E32.

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