Mumbai: BMC is spending Rs 4.27 crores on an infection control product that infection control specialists do not seem to recognise. These are “anti-infective bed cover mats,” and 43,000 of them are being bought for four medical college hospitals.These mats are supplied by a real estate firm, Veer Housing Projects LLP, procured from an Uttarakhand-based company called Pioneer Polyleather Pvt LTD. Representatives from the company stated they are the authorised supplier of the product in the state and have previously supplied the same to primary health centres in parts of the state.The supplier claims the mat is antimicrobial, re-washable, waterproof, and odour-free, stating that it can reduce E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, as well as Aspergillus niger fungus, by 99.99%, effectively killing these microbes. The effect lasts up to 10 washes, and one mattress can be used for about a week.The tall claim is backed by its lab reports done prior to the tender process. However, there is no clinical trial that has backed its use in a real-world hospital setting, nor is it part of WHO or govt clinical guidelines. The supplier said random sampling was done once by BMC, and it passed the test. “We have been by the books as a supplier and have followed due process and scrutiny.”Past systematic reviews of such products published in PubMD have shown that while lab tests can have strong results, there is flimsy real-world hospital setting data.A microbiology department from one of the four medical colleges said the specifications that were earlier sought were changed at a later stage of the tender process. “We were told to adopt state govt specifications; once there is an order like that, rarely does it face a challenge.”A former doctor at KEM Hospital said similar kind of mats have been in use within the hospital, but their use has been limited for their waterproof properties. One randomised trial to evaluate a launderable bed protection system for hospital beds found that such barriers between the underlying mattress and a patient were helpful in infection control when they are washed and treated, but the barriers themselves did not have anti-infective properties.The former dean of one of the four medical college hospitals said there were deliberations on procuring the product, but it was shelved as it was a new concept and the costs were high. Another microbiologist with a state govt hospital said often companies rely on public set-ups to have hospital-setting validation for their products on the basis of lab reports. “If it is not widely available, then it is likely just a claim by a company for now.“Some of the doctors in private set-ups have never heard of it. The supplier states this is because, at least in the state, it has been limited to public health facilities. Infectious disease specialist Dr Mandar Kubal said the product is similar to what is sold for home use. “They say we have copper or zinc in it to make it antibacterial, but there are no strong clinical studies to back it. At least in private hospitals, we use waterproof barriers on which a bedsheet is put, but not this.“Dr Anita Mathew, another infectious disease specialist, said in the hospitals she has worked in, there are mattresses used with a layer of latex to have it cleaned. “There could be an anti-infective mat available somewhere, but how reliable it is, we do not know, simply because we have never used one.” Another internal medicine expert, Dr Hemalata Arora, said none in her medical circles have heard of such a product.Meanwhile, KEM Hospital will receive 200 mats for one year, Sion gets 19,000, Cooper 7,500, and Nair Hospital will have 16,900. DMC (Health) Sharad Ughade remained unavailable for comment.
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