Adherence of organisms to silver-coated surfaces.

Pure silver-, silver oxide- and silver chloride-treated surfaces in comparison to polypropylene inhibited both growth and adherence from saline of Serratia marcescens, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. These same organisms demonstrated enhanced adherence to an Ion-Beam-Assisted-Deposited silver surface followed by loss of viability. This type of surface in contrast to the other silver surfaces did not produce zones of inhibition in agar diffusion tests.