Emerging Hospital Room Disinfection System Should Save Billions

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Medizone International, Inc. (MZEI:OB, MZEI:QB).  In what is believed to be an important first, an entire ward at a public hospital remains 100% free from MRSA for 6 months after a major outbreak is quashed – thanks to the introduction of a new hospital room disinfection technology.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140123/SF51221)

In early June 2013, seven patient rooms on a 14 room ward at Quinte Health Care's Belleville General Hospital in Ontario, Canada were quarantined after being hit by a rapidly spreading strain of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA is one of the most common causes of serious staph infections acquired in hospitals, globally.

Dr. Dick Zoutman, Chief of Staff for the hospital, was quoted as saying, "On average we have had one or two new MRSA cases per month on the ward.  This is in keeping with averages being reported within the health care system nationally.  In June we noted a rapidly spreading MRSA problem on the ward that reached seven rooms over a short period of time.  That is when we began using Medizone International's AsepticSure® room disinfection system.  It is the only system we know of that can actually eliminate 100% of infective pathogens with a single room treatment.  We have learned that obtaining even a 99.9% bacterial kill is not enough, as the remaining 0.1% of bacteria immediately begin growing back causing the problem of infection to start all over again in a few short hours. What is more, AsepticSure is proven to kill bacterial spores that can lurk in hospital rooms for months." Dr. Zoutman is also a co-inventor along with Dr. Michael E. Shannon of the AsepticSure system.

"The results were immediate. The MRSA was immediately and entirely eliminated from the ward. The AsepticSure system was straightforward to use and quick, with complete room disinfection occurring in an hour. To prove to ourselves that the AsepticSure system was working, we performed cultures of 120 surfaces of the treated rooms before and after the AsepticSure system was used. The results were amazing. Virtual complete elimination of all bacteria on the room surfaces after AsepticSure was used in the rooms."

"However, the longer term effects were not fully appreciated until after a six-month follow up had been completed. Only then was it realized that not only had the rooms remained free of MRSA, no further cases of MRSA  were noted on the ward during this period."

"It is noteworthy in this regard," stated Dr. Michael E. Shannon, President of Medizone International and a former Director General of the Laboratory Center for Disease Control, Health Canada, "that in addition to full room disinfection, all support equipment associated with each contaminated room were also disinfected using AsepticSure – and this may have played an important role as well in virtually eliminating MRSA from the ward. These mobile pieces of patient care equipment are notoriously hard to clean by hand. AsepticSure made disinfecting them very easy.

"Given that hospital acquired infections are now considered to be the fourth leading cause of death in both the United States and Canada, this could be a game changer."

"Not only has this result at Quinte Health Care Belleville General Hospital demonstrated a new standard for what a clean hospital could be," stated Dr. Shannon, "but thousands of lives might be saved with the wide adoption of AsepticSure while actually reducing the overall cost of hospital care by avoiding the cost of treating these largely preventable infections. The cost of which the United States Center for Disease Control places at $25,000 per new infection."

This Press Release may contain certain forward looking statements that could involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For press information on Medizone International, please contact:

John Pentony, Investor Relations, Medizone International, Inc.
T: (415) 331-0202   
E: [email protected]

Gary Hanauer, Media Contact Medizone International, Inc.
T: (510) 686-1238
E: [email protected]

For more information, visit: http://www.medizoneint.com
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Medizone International, Inc.