E D I T O R ' S Q U E S T I O N

critical aspect of patient safety is the reduction of preventable infections in healthcare settings . Healthcare-associated infections ( HAI ) are causing increasing concern across the world as rising rates of antimicrobial resistance ( AMR ) mean that we can no longer rely on many of our most powerful antibiotics to effectively treat infections .

If we continue to overuse antibiotics and allow rates of AMR to rise unchecked , we risk returning to a time when we were vulnerable to even the simplest infections . Economic and regulatory obstacles have also meant that the development of new antibiotics has stagnated : the World

Health Organization has said that the antibiotic pipeline we have is inadequate to address the growing threat of AMR .

A type of HAI called surgical site infections ( SSIs ) is of particular concern to healthcare systems because they are potentially fatal and very costly to treat , often requiring re-operation . A high proportion of SSIs are caused by bacteria of nasal origin , including Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( MRSA ).

These and other pathogens can migrate from the nose to a surgical incision site and cause an infection . Although there is growing awareness of the need to eliminate these pathogens before surgery to prevent SSIs , fears about overusing antibiotics mean that not all patients are being treated .

Luckily , HealthTech has been able to succeed where traditional drug development is failing . New technologies are bringing viable alternatives to antibiotics , crucially without triggering the development of AMR .

The leading technology emerging right now is lightactivated antimicrobial therapy . This uses a specific wavelength of red light to trigger chemical reactions that are rapidly fatal to infection-causing bacteria , viruses and fungi . Mid Yorkshire NHS Teaching Trust is currently using Ondine Biomedical ’ s light-activated antimicrobial technology to eliminate pathogens in the nose before highrisk orthopaedic surgery .

Because this technology is not a traditional antibiotic , it can be used on all patients without leading to increased resistance . In time , this technology will find applications to prevent and treat many more types of infection , further sparing our reliance on traditional antibiotics . �

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