BUG BLITZER: Roy Jackson of Scent Technologies and the vaporiser device which may help hospitals control MRSA
By Charles Graham
A Wigan firm is pioneering a gadget that will blitz killer superbugs in Britain's hospitals.
Scent Technologies, a tiny operation on Miry Lane, has teamed up with scientists from Manchester Metropolitan University to create a vaporiser containing a secret formula of essential oils which, when sprayed into the air, kill deadly micro-organisms.
A 10-month trial of the system at the burns unit of Wythenshawe Hospital has seen spectacular results. Airborne bugs, including lethal MRSA, were reduced by 90% and infections on the ward plummeted.The device and formula have now been patented and Scent Technologies MD Roy Jackson says the operation is too big for his firm to handle and they are looking for investors and a buyer.
He said: "This is an enormous breakthrough in the treatment of infections that have been very much in the headlines in recent years.
The vaporiser and essential oils reduced mircrobes at Wythenshawe by 90%. You can never reduce them by 100% because people coming and going bring new ones in.
"When the trial ended, infections suddenly shot up again so they have now asked for the apparatus to be installed permanently. This should go worldwide now. These are very exciting times."
Dr Valerie Edwards-Jones, assistant director of research, and post-doctoral research assistant Anna Doran, from Manchester Metropolitan University, had been researching the effects of essential oils on micro-organisms for several years.
Scent Technologies came to their
attention because its products – which were used for masking unpleasant smells in everything from hospitals to the new Queen Mary liner – uniquely used dry dispersal rather than wet aerosols, which is what the scientists were looking for.
attention because its products – which were used for masking unpleasant smells in everything from hospitals to the new Queen Mary liner – uniquely used dry dispersal rather than wet aerosols, which is what the scientists were looking for.
Scent had itself discovered that the oils it was using to filter fresh air were having beneficial effects on hospital infections but the recipe has been super-refined by the university egg-heads.
Dr Edwards-Jones said: "The results of our trial at Wythenshawe were extremely promising with bacterial counts in the air reduced by over 90%. "We have specifically looked at MRSA and the oils do kill it. We are also looking at spraying the substance directly on to patients to decontaminate them."I would hope that this product could spread across the planet."
Last Updated: 16 February 2007
Last Updated: 16 February 2007
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