The multitude of infections caused by bacteria that prove multiresistant to effective antibiotic therapies poses a special health care problem in hospitals and clinics all over the world. More than 2 million nosocomial infections of this kind are registered in the United States each year, and 3 million annually in the European Union. In Hungary, there are 200,000 known hospital infections each year, 1 % of which are lethal. The annual cost of primary treatment for these infections is close to 10 billion HUF, but the impact of the total cost on a social level (lost work-time, rehabilitation, permanently reduced work capacity) exceeds this amount many times over.
The Nanobact Project aims to develop products and technologies suitable for the prevention of hospital infections, the first step being the application of silver nanoparticles. In the event of successful execution, taking into account a 20% decrease in the number of infections, it is expected that Hungary will be able to save 2 billion HUF in direct health care costs and more than 10 billion on a social level
