Antimicrobial Polymers for Pathogenic Bacteria

Dear Colleagues,

Healthcare-associated infection is a major problem worldwide, often resulting in prolonged periods of hospitalization with associated increased cost to the healthcare provider and additional suffering for the patient. The problem is further exacerbated by the increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance and reports of hospital-associated pathogens resistant to most of the currently available antimicrobial agents is sadly, not uncommon. According to a report of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), it is estimated that there are annually >1.9 million infection incidents of hospitalized patients in the European Union (EU), resulting in at least 37,000 deaths. Microbial contamination of inanimate surfaces is important in the cycle of transmission of pathogens between patients and staff within the healthcare environment and surfaces can also acts as a reservoir of foodborne pathogens in animal husbandry and food processing facilities and kitchens. Given this need, there is considerable effort to develop antimicrobial polymers that can be used to prevent or reduce surface contamination by pathogenic microorganisms. Generally, there are two approaches involving either antifouling materials to prevent microbes from adhering or microbicidal materials which kill the microorganism on contact, and some materials display both attributes.

The aim of this Special Issue is to produce a collection of recent advances in the development of antimicrobial polymers active against pathogenic bacteria as a comprehensive ‘state-of-the-art’ compendium on the topic. We invite authors to contribute both original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue in order to focus current understanding and inspire future possibilities.

Dr. Elaine Allan
Dr. Gi-Byoung Hwang
Guest Editors

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• antimicrobial
• polymers
• bactericidal
• photobactericidal
• anti-biofouling
• nanostructured
• healthcare associated infection
• biofilms
• antibiotic resistant bacteria
• surfaces
• anti-biofouling surfaces
• bactericidal surfaces
• foodborne pathogens
• surface contamination