Type of presentation: Poster-Research work.
Topic: alternatives for the treatment of skin pathologies.
Authors:
-Beatriz Escobar: Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Chile.
-Valentina Pinilla: Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Chile.
-Consuelo Borie: Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Chile.
-Nicolás Galarce: Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida,
Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile; Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Chile. Corresponding.

Introduction: One of the most common pathologies in the companion animal practice are bacterial skin infections, frequently caused by Staphylococcus spp., including antimicrobial resistant strains. Due to the risk that these pathogens represent for animal and public health, strategies for its control focus on reducing the demand for antimicrobials. In this context, copper has demonstrated effectiveness in the reduction of human pathogenic bacteria, including methicillin resistant S. aureus. Despite this, no studies support the use of copper fabrics in companion animals. We aimed to quantify the antimicrobial potential of copper fabrics on strains of methicillin-resistant coagulase-positive Staphylococcus strains isolated from dogs.

Methods: Using the Spanish standard UNE in ISO 20743 (ISO 20743:2013), two types of COPPTECH® copper microparticles-added fabrics (30% and 60% of copper) developed by Copptech and introduced in the vet product by Grupo Kimba® were tested to challenge 26 strains of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, including methicillin resistant strains, performing bacterial count at 0 and 24 hours.

Results: When using the 30% copper-added fabric, reductions in bacterial count ranged from 20% to 30% at 0 h, while at 24 h reduction was as high as 55%. On the other hand, reductions around 30% were registered at time 0 when using 60% added-copper fabric, and up to 80% at 24 h.

Conclusions: Our in vitro results show that copper-added fabrics could represent a good complementary alternative to the use of antibiotics for the treatment of skin pathologies in dogs. Nevertheless, further in vivo studies are needed in order to determine its therapeutic effect.