Abstract:

Hospital-acquired infections are a growing problem in hospitalized patient safety. and hospital textiles are reported as a significant source of these nosocomial pathogen. Contact with these textiles leads most often to the contamination and cross-contamination of the hospitalized patient and hospital staff. However, the common antimicrobial agents used in the production of antimicrobial textiles are proving to be a concern in terms of toxicity and antimicrobial resistance. Bacillus spores can be a good solution to combat pathogenic bacteria. In the present study, Bacillus spores were used in the coating of polyester fabrics. Afterwards the growth and viability of the beneficial bacteria applied on fabrics were monitored using the agar plate method. Besides this, the applicability to the fabric was evaluated on the basis of contact angle measurements, abrasion resistance and tensile tests. Major findings included that it is possible to incorporate Bacillus spores in coated fabrics and these  can behave like q reservoir for beneficial bacteria.