Medizone International, Inc. (Dually Traded: OTCBB/OTCQB: MZEI)
(http://medizoneint.com)

It is anticipated that AsepticSure™ will be extremely cost effective, adaptable to virtually any situation anywhere and have a global reach.

The AsepticSure™ hospital sterilization system is a portable, affordable, easily operated system that can be used by trained maintenance staff. It is placed in the center of the room to be cleaned. Vents and doors are then sealed with an easily and cleanly removable 3M-tape product.

The AsepticSure™ equipment is turned on from outside of the room through a remote wireless computer interface. The room is filled with a unique and patented gas formula that is ozone (O3) based to specific humidity and charge strength. Following the charge period the sterilization process is remotely turned off and a separate technology is employed that restores the atmosphere inside the room to EPA standards.

The entire process, start to finish, takes 80 to 90 minutes at which time the room will have been cleared of pathogens to the 6 log sterilization standard. The room is opened and the equipment is then ready to move on to the next space to be treated, leaving the treated room sterile of pathogens with a fresh, oxygen (O2) freshness.

Commercial Viability of AsepticSure™ Hospital Sterilization System

From a commercial viewpoint, the higher the “kill rate” in the shortest turn around time, the more favorably physicians and hospital administrators will view the system. Accordingly, Medizone now believes that the performance profile of its AsepticSure™ Sterilization System will exceed all the prerequisite requirements of affordability, practicability and unmatched efficacy, which will catapult it into the world market.

AsepticSure™ Mock Trials

The mock trials are now producing the same results in terms of sterilization that were first achieved in the small laboratory unit.

March 15, 2010 - The AsepticSure™ system is capable of decontamination to the previously unobtainable 6 log standard on all hospital surfaces, hard or soft.

The AsepticSure™ hospital sterilization system has completed the first and second full round of room scale trials eliminating all pathogens across the ‘Super Bug’ spectrum on stainless steel surfaces, porcelain, formica and many common fabrics at a reliable 6 log (99.9999%) kill or greater.

Of commercial significance in a hospital setting is the fact that the AsepticSure™ system is now able to greatly reduce the time required to achieve 6 log kills on hard surfaces to 30 minutes of exposure. With the charge time and destruct time for reuse of the space factored in, that translates to a room turn around time of 80 minutes, a 40 minute saving in total turn around time from the original target of 2 hours.

Fabric exposure requires an additional 15 minutes to achieve the same 6 log kill rate, which represents a full turn around for a thorough cleaning of about 95 minutes for all surface materials.

Given the sum of our results, it now appears that a typical protocol might have a hospital perform a first cleaning of 95 minutes to fully sterilize the space, which would be followed by cleanings, perhaps as infrequently as one time per week for lower risk settings, requiring only 80 minutes to complete.

Not only is AsepticSure™ continuing to demonstrate its superlative antimicrobial efficacy, it is increasingly becoming apparent that it will be viewed as a practical necessity easily managed by trained hospital maintenance staff without putting rooms out of service for unacceptable periods of time.

March 8, 2010 – The successful completion of the first full round of room scale testing with AsepticSure™ sterilization system indicated all pathogens of cause with HAIs were completely eliminated at concentrations well above 6 log. These results have confirmed the laboratory findings reported earlier this year, but what is of even greater significance are the insights gained into the technical modifications necessary to accommodate the unique requirements of decontaminating within a hospital environment.

Work will continue on the room scale testing program in order to expand understanding of factors that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of AsepticSure™, particularly when dealing with contaminated textiles in time sensitive hospital spaces.

To meet the unique challenges of hospital acquired infections, Medizone has assembled an international team of professional engineers who are finalizing design of our first pre-manufacturing prototype to be used in hospital beta testing, which will commence later this spring.

Medizone will build four highly instrumented prototype units for use in its hospital program, thereby enabling precise performance assessment of all AsepticSure™ systems as concurrent outcome measures, which will form the basis for final production design work, manufacturing and ultimately commercialization later this year.

Medizone International, Inc. announced today that it has successfully completed the first full round of room scale testing with its AsepticSure™ sterilization system. “Across the board”, commented Dr Michael Shannon, “all pathogens of cause with HAIs were completely eliminated from stainless steel surfaces at concentrations well above 6 log. These results have confirmed the laboratory findings reported earlier this year, but what is of even greater significance are the insights gained into the technical modifications necessary to accommodate the unique requirements of decontaminating within a hospital environment.”

Work will continue on the room scale testing program in order to expand our understanding of factors that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of AsepticSure™, particularly when dealing with contaminated textiles in time sensitive hospital spaces.

February 4, 2010: AsepticSure™ Hospital Sterilization System demonstrates total eradication of Super Bugs. Every full scale test run completed in the hospital room mock up facility has resulted in the total elimination of all bacteria present in the room.

In this phase of development, Medizone’s scientific team will attempt to confirm, in a more realistic hospital setting, recent laboratory findings indicating extremely high antibacterial efficacy for its novel technology (6-7.2 log reductions) against the primary causative agents of hospital acquired infections (HAIs), sometimes referred to as “Super Bugs”.

MZEI has now completed multiple runs with very high concentrations of MRSA, VRE and E coli samples that were distributed throughout the test room. In every instance, the AsepticSure™ system produced greater than 6 log (99.9999%) reductions, which by definition, is sterilization. It is noteworthy in this regard that there was absolutely no growth on any of the artificially contaminated surfaces exposed to the AsepticSure™ process.

The intention now is to systematically collect empirically verifiable scientific data on all the remaining causative agents of HAIs. Given these recent results in a full room test setting which precisely mirrors the laboratory set up, the same results are expected with all remaining bacteria as well as Bacillus subtilis, the recognized surrogate for Anthrax.
While more testing and data acquisition must be completed before moving into hospital beta testing, it now seems certain that AsepticSure™ will deliver as promised.

A concern has been the protection of the expensive electronics found throughout hospitals. The electronic testing program will now be intensified to assure false assumptions and not made.

Third Round Trials

January 5. 2010: Third Round of Laboratory Testing Complete
Third Round Testsing: Medizone International, Inc. third round of testing and data logging for the enhanced AsepticSure™ technology is now complete. Test results achieved over the past two months now predictably demonstrate greater than 6 logs of bacterial “kill” across the full spectrum of hospital contaminants including MRSA, C difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and VRE in addition to the internationally accepted surrogate for Anthrax, Bacillus subtilis.

Significantly, these results have been replicated on more than a single surface material. “This latest round of laboratory testing has confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt that our enhanced AsepticSure™ technology can reliably achieve sterilization standards for virtually any bacterial contaminant found in a hospital setting,” stated Dr. Michael Shannon, Medizone’s Director of Medical Affairs.

Medizone’s full scale prototype unit has been completed and demonstrated in “dry” runs (bacteria free) that it can reach both the charge time and saturation requirements of its design criteria. The ability to replicate the exact atmosphere of the laboratory test unit in a full sized room is considered a crucial step in achieving the same 6 log bactericidal action in hospital settings.

December 1. 2009: Testing Breaks “6 Log” Decontamination Barriers
Medizone International, Inc. announced that in tests involving proprietary AsepticSure™ technology, it continues to break “6 log” decontamination barriers, this time with two very different spore forming bacteria, Clostridium difficile and Bacillus subtilis. These results clearly establish AsepticSure™ as an extremely potent sporicidal technology.

“The implications of a 6.7 log reduction (99.99997 %) in C. difficile are indeed significant for the entire health care system,” stated Dr Michael Shannon, Director of Medical Affairs for Medizone. “However, even though our findings for Bacillus subtilis are preliminary, the potential of being able to eliminate 99.999992% (7.2 log kill) of an internationally accepted surrogate for Anthrax in 90 minutes will have national security implications.”

Medizone believes that a field hardened variant of the AsepticSure™ hospital unit currently being readied for scale up testing will have wide bio defense applications internationally as it will be easily deployable in response to virtually any terrorist assault, extremely effective against a broad range of lethal pathogens, easy to manage and maintain and most importantly, it has the potential to save lives.

Medizone Reliably and Predictably Able to Break Through 6 Log Barrier with MRSA
Medizone International, Inc. (MZEI.OB) announces an ability to achieve a level of bacterial decontamination heretofore unseen in open space settings using conventional means.

Dr Michael E. Shannon, Director of Medical Affairs, Medizone International stated, “our research team has pressed hard over the last few months to systematically evaluate various decontamination options involving numerous technological approaches in combination, and to our surprise, we have managed reliably and predictably to break through the 6 log barrier with MRSA. This unexpected development will significantly expand the utility for AsepticSure™, since by definition, any bacterial reduction beyond 6 logs (99.9999%) is considered STERILIZATION.

This unique combination of technologies and protocols will now be tested on C difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, and VRE with the expectation that AsepticSure™ will achieve the same degree of incremental improvement over the 4 to 5 log reductions we have already demonstrated with those pathogens in earlier trials.”

Medizone International is preparing a second patent filing to cover these developments while construction and instrumentation of an expanded laboratory setting at the company’s Innovation Park, Queens University laboratory continues in preparation for full room scale-up testing of its equipment to commence in December.

Second Round Trials

Results from the second series of trials demonstrated a 5 log reduction (99.999%) in Pseudomonas Aeruginousa and a 4.4 log reduction (99.994%) in Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA).

Commercial Viability of AsepticSure™ Hospital Sterilization System
From a commercial viewpoint, the higher the “kill rate” in the shortest turn around time, the more favorably physicians and hospital administrators will view the system. Accordingly, Medizone now believes that the performance profile of its AsepticSure™ Sterilization System will exceed all the prerequisite requirements of affordability, practicability and unmatched efficacy, which will catapult it into the world market.

______________________

Medizone International, Inc., is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ technology to decontaminate and sterilize hospital surgical suites, emergency rooms, intensive care units, schools and other critical infrastructure.

Investor Relations: 415-868-0300
E-mail: operations @ medizoneint.com

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Antibiotic Resistance and the Threat to Public Health

Congressional Hearing:  Subcommittee on Health Antibiotic Resistance and the Threat to Public Health
Hearings – Subcommittee on Health
Wednesday, 28 April 2010 13:02

The Subcommittee on Health held a hearing entitled “Antibiotic Resistance and the Threat to Public Health” on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. The hearing explored the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance and the effects it has on human health.

Witnesses

Thomas Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Anthony Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

MEMORANDUM
April 26, 2010
To: Members of the Subcommittee on Health
Fr: Committee on Energy and Commerce Staff
Re: Subcommittee Hearing on Antibiotic Resistance

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing entitled “Antibiotic Resistance and the Threat to Public Health”. The hearing will explore the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance and the effects it has on human health.

I.

INTRODUCTION: BACTERIA, ANTIBIOTICS AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE
Bacteria are microscopic organisms that are found naturally both inside and outside of our bodies. Sometimes bacteria can be harmless or even beneficial. There are a hundred trillion or so bacteria that live in a person’s gut and can help process food and protect people from unfriendly germs1. At other times, bacteria can be harmful to humans by infecting the body (e.g., strep infections of the throat). Viruses are different from bacteria but are also microscopic organisms that can infect the body (a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract is usually called a cold).

Antibiotics fight infections by killing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria. These drugs can be lifesaving and have dramatically reduced illness and death since the invention of
1 NIAID, Bacterial Infections: Birth of an Intestinal Ecosystem (online at www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/bacterialInfections/pages/intestinalecosystem.aspx) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).
penicillin in 1927.2 Antibiotics are only useful against bacteria and not viruses. Antiviral drugs can be used against viruses.

Antibiotic resistance is “the ability of bacteria or other microbes to resist the effects of an antibiotic. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections.”3 Every time antibiotics are used, sensitive bacteria are killed and resistant forms of the bacteria may survive.4 These resistant bacteria can then flourish and infect others.
The ability for bacteria to be resistant to an antibiotic can be encoded on a single segment of DNA. These DNA segments can be transferred between different strains or even different species of bacteria, and through this gene transfer, bacteria that were never exposed to the antibiotic can acquire the resistance from other bacteria.5 Some DNA segments can even encode resistance to multiple antibiotics, and so when bacteria acquire that single piece of DNA, they can become resistant to many antibiotics.6

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) observes that “the number of bacteria resistant to antibiotics has increased in the last decade. Many bacterial infections are becoming resistant to the most commonly prescribed antibiotic treatments.” According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), “many infectious diseases are increasingly difficult to treat because of antimicrobial-resistant organisms.”7 This hearing will examine the recent trend in infections that have become more difficult to control.

II.
PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACT OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

2 CDC, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work—Antibiotic Resistance Questions & Answers (online at www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/anitbiotic-resistance-faqs.html) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).
3 CDC, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work—Antibiotic Resistance Questions & Answers (online at www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/anitbiotic-resistance-faqs.html) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).
4 CDC, “Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work—Fast Facts” (online at http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/fast-facts.html) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).
5 NIAID, “Bacteria Infections” (online at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/bacterialinfections/Pages/default.aspx) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010); NIAID, “Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance: Causes” (online at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialResistance/Understanding/Pages/causes.aspx) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).
6 CDC, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work—Antibiotic Resistance Questions & Answers (online at www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/anitbiotic-resistance-faqs.html#d) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).
7 NIAID, Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance (online at www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialResistance/Understanding/Pages/quickFacts.aspx) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).

Numerous press reports have highlighted the decreased ability of modern antibiotics to control deadly diseases, and CDC has described antibiotic resistance as “one of the world’s most pressing health problems.”

HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTIONS

Each year nearly two million patients in the United States get an infection in a hospital, and about 90,000 die as a result of these infections.10 More than 70% of the bacteria that cause hospital-acquired infections are resistant to at least one of the antibiotics most commonly used to treat them.11 People infected with drug-resistant organisms are more likely to have longer hospital stays and require treatment with other drugs that may be less effective, more toxic, or more expensive.12 Between 5 and 10 percent of all hospital patients develop an infection, leading to an increase of about $5 billion in annual U.S. healthcare costs.13

IMPACT OF SPECIFIC BACTERIA

Some resistant organisms have garnered specific interest. In 2007, CDC experts estimated that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was responsible for about 94,000 infections and over 18,000 deaths each year.14 Even young, healthy patients were killed by this infection.

One outbreak in relatively young patients was documented by CDC in 2004, when an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii began in veterans returning from Iraq and Kuwait and from Afghanistan.15

8 Rising Threat of Infections Unfazed by Antibiotics, New York Times (Feb. 26, 2010).

9 CDC, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work—Antibiotic Resistance Questions & Answers (online at www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/anitbiotic-resistance-faqs.html) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).

10 CDC, Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings (online at www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/healthcare/problem.htm) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).

11 CDC, Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings (online at www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/healthcare/problem.htm) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).

12 CDC, Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings (online at www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/healthcare/problem.htm) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).

13 NIAID, Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance: Quick Facts (online at www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialResistance/Understanding/Pages/quickFacts.aspx) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).

14 Klevens RM, Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in the United States, Journal of the American Medical Association (Oct. 17, 2007).

15 CDC, Acinetobacter baumannii Infections Among Patients at Military Medical Facilities Treating Injured U.S. Service Members, 2002-2004, MMWR Weekly (Nov. 19, 2004).

Other infections are becoming so resistant that few antibiotics are effective against them. Enterococci bacteria can cause serious infections, especially in people susceptible to infections. There are now strains known as vancomycin-resistant enterococci (also known as VRE) which can be resistant to even the drugs of last resort, leaving very little recourse for treating physicians.16

III.

ORIGINS OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AND POTENTIAL ROUTES TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM

According to NIAID, the broader causes for resistance could include the following:
1. Inappropriate use by physicians.
2. Inadequate diagnostics, leading to use of broad spectrum antibiotics when a specific one might be better, or leading to the use of antibiotics to treat viral infections.
3. Hospital use, because of the heavy use and the close contact among sick patients
4. Agricultural use, particularly in animal feed, although NIAID acknowledges there is debate about the public health impact.

CDC states that “widespread use of antibiotics promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. Smart use of antibiotics is the key to controlling the spread of resistance.” 17 CDC has multiple campaigns to address antibiotic resistance: The “Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work” campaign, which focuses on the judicious use of antibiotics by physicians; the “Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work on the Farm” campaign, which focuses on use of antibiotics in agricultural settings; and the “Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings.”

Others, such as the Institute of Medicine, have suggested the need for additional actions, such as incentives to bring more antibiotics to market, more aggressive policies to prevent healthcare-associated infections, strengthened surveillance, and increased efforts in vaccine development and production.18

IV.

WITNESSES

The following witnesses have been invited to testify:

16 NIAID, Antimicrobial (drug) resistance: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) (online at www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialResistance/Examples/vre/Pages/default.aspx) (accessed April 19, 2010).
17 CDC, Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work—Antibiotic Resistance Questions & Answers (online at www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/anitbiotic-resistance-faqs.html) (accessed Apr. 19, 2010).
18 Institute of Medicine, Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response (2003).

Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH Director Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Anthony Fauci, MD Director National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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In June 2010 the National Athletic Trainers’ Association unveiled guidelines to prevent MRSA skin infections at its annual conference.

A study of high school athletes in Nebraska found that the incidence of MRSA infections rose markedly between the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nebraska Department of Health Community Services.

Among wrestlers, the incidence tripled, going from 19.6 per 10,000 students to 60.1. Among football players in the Nebraska study, published last year in the Journal of School Nursing, the incidence rose five times, from 5 per 10,000 players to 25 in 10,000.

Guidelines:

• Discouraging the sharing of towels, gear, water bottles, hair clippers, and razors.
• Daily disinfection or laundering of sports equipment and clothing.
• Frequent hand-washing and showering.
• Encouraging athletes to check skin daily and report suspicious sores.

Skin infections account for 56 percent of infectious diseases incurred in competitive athletics, according to a study to appear in July in the Journal of Athletic Training.

Medizone International, Inc. (Dually Traded: OTCBB/OTCQB: MZEI)

(http://medizoneint.com)

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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10 May 2010

WASHINGTON, May 10 — The Health Forum issued the following news release:

Responding to concerns about imposing a “severe burden” on hospitals, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services May 7, 2010,  notified hospitals that it has reversed course and no longer is requiring them to submit to the Buccaneer Data Systems Clinical Data Abstraction Center data that theypreviously reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Methicillian-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

MRSA is a bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in patients. CMS’ Office of Clinical Standards and Quality withdrew its April 29 requirement for the data, which it said was intended to help estimate the accuracy of MRSA data reported to CDC and to assess the “accuracy of medical record-abstracted information at a hospital level, relative to national rates collected in other initiatives.”

In its May 7 letter, the agency said it is dropping the requirement to send the data, after listening to hospitals and “national and state association feedback about the severe burden to hospitals.” CMS said hospitals that submit the data voluntarily will be reimbursed for their costs.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that results from this request, and kindly request that your hospital continue to work collaboratively with your [Quality Improvement Organization] partner in improving MRSA rates and overall patient safety,” CMS said. “We appreciate CMS’ responsiveness to the concerns raised,” said Nancy Foster, AHA vice president for quality and patient safety. “We are glad that CMS’ decision will allow those participating in this project to stay focused on that very important goal.”

Medizone International, Inc. (Dually Traded: OTCBB/OTCQB: MZEI)
(http://medizoneint.com)

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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A surge in drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter, a dangerous type of bacteria that is becoming increasingly common in U.S. hospitals, has been reported In a study published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. These infections attack patients in hospital intensive care units while also plaguing soldiers returning home from the Iraqi war. They often appear as severe pneumonias or bloodstream infections, and require strong drugs to be treated, when they can be stopped at all.

Using data from hospitals around the country, researchers at Extending the Cure- a project of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Resources for the Future - analyzed trends in resistance to imipenem, an antibiotic often reserved as a last-line treatment The study found that in recent years, there has been a more than 300% increase in the proportion of Acinetobacter cases resistant to the drug.

“The findings are troubling because they suggest this bacteria is becoming resistant to nearly everything in our arsenal,” notes principal investigator Ramanan Laxminarayan. ‘There is a lot of attention on MRSA [methiállin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus], but less on infections caused by bacteria like Acinetobacter, for which there are fewer drugs in the development pipeline. While all drug resistance is of concern, it is particularly worrying in the case of bugs for which we have few treatment options.”

Using data from hospitals around the country, researchers at Extending the Cure- a project of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Resources for the Future – analyzed trends in resistance to imipenem, an antibiotic often reserved as a last-line treatment The study found that in recent years, there has been a more than 300% increase in the proportion of Acinetobacter cases resistant to the drug.

Medizone International, Inc. (Dually Traded: OTCBB/OTCQB: MZEI)
(http://medizoneint.com)

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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THE NUMBER of MRSA bloodstream infections reported by hospitals is going down but other types of potentially fatal infections are increasing.

Dr Robert Cunney, who is a specialist with the national Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said while the number of reported MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) bloodstream infections had dropped to 355 last year from 439 the year before, the number of cases of MSSA (methicillin susceptible staphylococcus aureus) had increased from 864 in 2008 to 954 in 2009.

He said it was not really clear why this was happening, but it may be that one type of bacteria is taking the place of the other as part of some sort of evolution.

While MRSA was associated with higher mortality than MSSA, there was still “a significant risk of death associated with MSSA”.

Cases of the hospital superbug VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci) were also increasing in Ireland, he said, adding that Ireland now has one of the highest rates of this infection in Europe.

There is no reliable data on deaths from MRSA in Ireland, the report adds. About 25,000 people pick up infections in Irish hospitals each year, and those who do are seven times more likely to die, the report says

Medizone International, Inc. (Dually Traded: OTCBB/OTCQB: MZEI)
(http://medizoneint.com)

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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“We found that 72 (6%) of 1,674 PICU patients were colonized with MRSA.

MRSA-colonized patients were more likely to be younger (median age 3 years vs. 5 years; p = 0.02) and African American (p <0.001) and to have been hospitalized within 12 months (p <0.001) than were noncolonized patients.

MRSA isolates from 66 (92%) colonized patients were fingerprinted; 40 (61%) were genotypically Community Acquired -MRSA strains.

Community Acquired – MRSA strains were isolated from 50% of patients who became colonized with MRSA and caused the only hospital-acquired MRSA catheter-associated bloodstream infection in the cohort.

Epidemic Community Acquired – MRSA strains are becoming endemic to Pediatric ICUs, can be transmitted to hospitalized children, and can cause invasive hospital-acquired infections,” wrote A.M. Milstone and colleagues, Johns Hopkins University, Medical Department.

The researchers concluded: “Further appraisal of MRSA control is needed.”

Milstone and colleagues published their study in Emerging Infectious Diseases (Community-associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2010;16(4):647-655).

According to recent research from the United States, “Virulent community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus-aureus (CA-MRSA) strains have spread rapidly in the United States. To characterize the degree to which CA-MRSA strains are imported into and transmitted in pediatric intensive care units (PICU), we performed a retrospective study of children admitted to The Johns Hopkins Hospital PICU, March 1, 2007 May 31, 2008.”

For additional information, contact A.M. Milstone, Johns Hopkins University, School Medical, Dept. of Pediatrics Infectious Disease, 200 N Wolfe St., Rubenstein 3141, Baltimore, MD 21287, US

Medizone International, Inc. (Dually Traded: OTCBB/OTCQB: MZEI)
(http://medizoneint.com)

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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I was pleased to note this morning (April 14, 2010) that the New York Times reported on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Report released yesterday which noted HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTIONS NEED URGENT ATTENTION.

The Report focused on Hospital Acquired Infections, noting that the, “problem of hospital-acquired infections remains as resistant to cure as the germs that contribute to an estimated 100,000 deaths a year, according to an annual government study issued Tuesday.”

Despite threats of governmental sanctions, hospitals continue to see increased rates of post-operative bloodstream infections which increased by eight percent and catheter-associated urinary tract infections which increased by four percent.

There was no change in the incidence of bloodstream infections caused by the placement of catheters in central veins. The only positive news came from a 12 percent reduction in the rate of post-operative pneumonia.

Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, the agency’s director, pointed out that projects across the country had shown remarkable success in reducing infection rates by adhering to basic standards for hand hygiene, disinfection of patients, sterile handling of equipment and proper use of antibiotics. But at many hospitals those successes have yet to overcome an entrenched medical culture.

‘Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, called the trend troubling but said the new health care law would ”help turn these numbers around.” Under the law, hospitals with high rates of infections will be penalized by the government starting in the 2015 fiscal year.

The agency has been releasing its Congressionally mandated reports on health care quality and disparities since 2003.

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Medizone International, Inc. (Dually Traded: OTCBB/OTCQB: MZEI)
(http://medizoneint.com)

Johns Hopkins Children center has published in the April issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, its findings regarding community-acquired infections with drug-resistant strains of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.

Staph is now turn up regularly among children hospitalized in the intensive-care unit, according to their published research.

The Johns Hopkins Children’s team supports the screening all patients upon hospital admission and weekly screening thereafter regardless of symptoms because MRSA can be spread easily to other patients on the unit.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is a virulent subset of the bacterium and impervious to the most commonly used antibiotics. Most CA-MRSA causes skin and soft-tissue infections, but in ill people or in those with weakened immune systems, it can lead to invasive, sometimes fatal, infections.

In 2007, The Johns Hopkins Hospital began screening all patients upon admission and weekly thereafter until discharge. Some states have made patient screening mandatory but the protocols vary widely from hospital to hospital and from state to state.

“MRSA has become so widespread in the community, that it’s become nearly impossible to predict which patients harbor MRSA on their body,” says lead investigator Aaron Milstone, M.D., M.H.S., a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Hopkins Children’s.

“Point-of-admission screening in combination with other preventive steps, like isolating the patient and using contact precaution, can help curb the spread of dangerous bacterial infections to other vulnerable patients.”

The new Johns Hopkins study found that 6 percent of the 1,674 children admitted to the pediatric intensive-care unit (PICU) at Hopkins Children’s between 2007 and 2008 were colonized with MRSA, meaning they carried MRSA but did not have an active infection. Of the 72 children who tested positive for MRSA, 60 percent harbored the community-acquired strain and 75 percent of all MRSA carriers had no previous history or MRSA. MRSA was more common in younger children, 3 years old on average, and among African-American children. The reasons behind the age and racial disparities in MRSA colonization remain unclear, the investigators say. Patients with MRSA had longer hospital stays (eight days) than MRSA-free patients (five days) and longer PICU stays (three days) than non-colonized patients (two days).

Eight patients who were MRSA-free upon admission became colonized with MRSA while in the PICU. Of the eight, four developed clinical signs of infection, meaning that the other four would have never been identified as MRSA carriers if the hospital was not performing weekly screenings of all patients.

underscore the benefit of screening all patients upon hospital admission and weekly screening thereafter regardless of symptoms because MRSA can be spread easily to other patients on the unit.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is a virulent subset of the bacterium and impervious to the most commonly used antibiotics. Most CA-MRSA causes skin and soft-tissue infections, but in ill people or in those with weakened immune systems, it can lead to invasive, sometimes fatal, infections.

In 2007, The Johns Hopkins Hospital began screening all patients upon admission and weekly thereafter until discharge. Some states have made patient screening mandatory but the protocols vary widely from hospital to hospital and from state to state.

“MRSA has become so widespread in the community, that it’s become nearly impossible to predict which patients harbor MRSA on their body,” says lead investigator Aaron Milstone, M.D., M.H.S., a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Hopkins Children’s.

“Point-of-admission screening in combination with other preventive steps, like isolating the patient and using contact precaution, can help curb the spread of dangerous bacterial infections to other vulnerable patients.”

The new Johns Hopkins study found that 6 percent of the 1,674 children admitted to the pediatric intensive-care unit (PICU) at Hopkins Children’s between 2007 and 2008 were colonized with MRSA, meaning they carried MRSA but did not have an active infection. Of the 72 children who tested positive for MRSA, 60 percent harbored the community-acquired strain and 75 percent of all MRSA carriers had no previous history or MRSA. MRSA was more common in younger children, 3 years old on average, and among African-American children. The reasons behind the age and racial disparities in MRSA colonization remain unclear, the investigators say. Patients with MRSA had longer hospital stays (eight days) than MRSA-free patients (five days) and longer PICU stays (three days) than non-colonized patients (two days).

Eight patients who were MRSA-free upon admission became colonized with MRSA while in the PICU. Of the eight, four developed clinical signs of infection, meaning that the other four would have never been identified as MRSA carriers if the hospital was not performing weekly screenings of all patients.

Medizone International, Inc. is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures. Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Medizone International, Inc.
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Medizone International, Inc. (OTCBB and OTCQB: MZEI) (http://medizoneint.com)

The health reform law has an aspect focused on reducing  medical errors in hospitals which includes hospital acquired infections by doing two things:

1.  Making Medical Errors Public

2.  Creating pay incentives for safer hospitals.

A million Americans are harmed each year as a result of their medical care — not their underlying condition — and an estimated 100,000 die.

In addition to that number: 100,000 people die each year from hospital- acquired infections.

The law allocates $75 million annually toward improving the measures used to evaluate quality and safety.

Reducing re-admissions in care for heart attacks, pneumonia and preventing infections — will be rewarded with higher payments.

Medicare patients make up about half of all hospital visits.  Historically, private insurers and other public health programs change their policies to conform to Medicare policies.

When Medicare stopped paying for catheter-related urinary tract infections — forcing the hospital to bear the cost on their own — many hospitals implemented system-wide practices to prevent infections. Techniques included better tracking of patients with catheters and automatic messages to remind doctors to remove catheters because the longer the device is in place, the greater the chance for infection.

In 2014, Medicare’s Hospital Compare Web site will publish individual hospital errors rates for about a dozen avoidable conditions — the same list of conditions that Medicare stopped paying for in 2008. The public reporting will only include Medicare patients.

Incentives

Rewards hospitals for improving care: Beginning in 2012, hospitals that meet or exceed performance standards in conditions including stroke care, heart attack outcomes and infections will receive higher Medicare payments.

Penalizes hospitals for readmissions: Hospitals with high readmission rates for treatment of heart failure, pneumonia and a few other conditions will receive reduced Medicare payments in 2012. In 2014, it will be expanded to other conditions. Each hospital’s track record will be published.

Withholds payment for medical injuries: Medicare already restricts payment to hospital for extra care required to treat Medicare patients harmed by certain medical errors and this law expands this policy to Medicaid, the public health program geared for the poor and disabled.

Penalizes hospitals with high error rates: In 2014, Medicare will cut pay by 1 percent to hospitals with the highest rates of medical harm.

Requires public reporting of medical injuries: In 2014, the Medicare web site Hospital Compare will post each hospital’s record for certain medical errors and hospital-acquired infections. This limited reporting will cover only Medicare patients with certain conditions for which the hospital was not paid.

Requires insurers to demand better care: By 2012, insurers must have contracts with medical providers that include actions to reduce readmission, improve safety and use best practices.

Emphasizes effective practices: The law creates a Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Institute run by a private foundation that will find the most effective drugs, medical devices and procedures.

Establishes a patient safety center: The Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety will research and disseminate information about improving the quality and safety of health care, with an initial focus on preventing infections and reducing readmissions.

Requires reporting of gifts given to doctors: In 2013, device and drug manufacturers must begin reporting details about gifts and payments over $10 to doctors and teaching hospitals. The information will be published on a searchable Web site.

Improves quality measures: The law allocates $75 million annually toward improving the measures used to evaluate quality and safety.

Source: Consumers Union

Medizone International, Inc., is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures.  Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

Contact: Medizone International, Inc. (OTCBB: MZEI)
http://www.medizoneint.com

Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344
Address:
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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