Developing Novel Biointerfaces: Using Chlorhexidine Surface Attachment as a Method for Creating Anti-Fungal Surfaces

There is an increasing focus in healthcare environments on combatting antimicrobial resistant infections. While bacterial infections are well reported, infections caused by fungi receive less attention, yet have a broad impact on society and can be deadly. Fungi are eukaryotes with considerable shared biology with humans, therefore limited technologies exist to combat fungal infections and hospital infrastructure is rarely designed for reducing microbial load. In this study, a novel antimicrobial surface (AMS) that is modified with the broad-spectrum biocide chlorhexidine is reported. The surfaces are shown to kill the opportunistic fungal pathogens Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans very rapidly (<15 min) and are significantly more effective than current technologies available on the commercial market, such as silver and copper.

Automated summary

There is a growing concern about antimicrobial resistant infections in healthcare settings. While bacterial infections are well-documented, fungal infections receive less attention despite their significant impact on society and potential lethality. Fungi share many biological features with humans, making it challenging to develop effective technologies and infrastructure for combating fungal infections. This study presents a novel antimicrobial surface modified with the broad-spectrum biocide chlorhexidine, which demonstrates rapid killing of the opportunistic fungal pathogens, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans, and outperforms current available technologies like silver and copper.