Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death worldwide due to a single infectious agent. More than 95% of cases and deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In these resource-limited countries, hospitals are often lacking in adequate facilities for managing and isolating infected patients. Consequently there is a greater reliance on personal protective equipment, such as facemasks and respirators, to reduce nosocomial transmission of the disease. Facemasks are the more affordable and easily obtained option. However, healthcare workers in resource-limited settings are at an increased risk of becoming infected with TB due to the inability of hospitals to reliably provide new, sterile facemasks. Facemasks are sometimes reused despite their potential role in TB transmission, with decontamination not recommended due to concerns that sterilisation techniques may damage mask material.

Facemasks impregnated with an antimicrobial agent can add an extra level of protection against the spread of TB as they may decrease the risk of TB transmission and could be more cost effective if they did not need to be replaced as frequently. Conducting polymers (CP) and their functionalised derivatives (fCP) are a novel class of antimicrobial agents with potential as non-leaching additives to provide contamination resistant surfaces. We are investigating the antimicrobial action of a CP and an fCP against mycobacteria and have determined the optimal treatment time and concentration to achieve sterilisation of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis on a solid surface. Results indicated that an fCP is a potential candidate for use as an antimicrobial agent in facemasks to reduce transmission of TB.