Scientists claim to have developed a fibre which, if used to make nurses' and doctors' uniforms, will kill the bug when it comes in contact with it.
Now West Yorkshire manufacturers Acordis are trying to get NHS trusts to trial the new material in a bid to eradicate MRSA from hospitals.
Roland Cox, technical marketing manager for Bradford-based Acordis, said: "One of the things we are seeing is that uniforms – just like the people who wear them – move round the hospital and can carry the bacteria with them.
"It is not enough to just be washing your hands regularly, but of course nurses and doctors can't change uniforms every time they change patients.
"By making sure the uniforms are not able to carry any bacteria or fungi on them, then we can greatly reduce the risk of MRSA and other bacteria like salmonella spreading."
The uniforms are made of a special fibre which stops any bacteria or fungi spreading.
Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal ingredients are put into the fibre as it is woven and they prevent germs from living and spreading on the fabric.
Mr Cox added: "There are other products on the market which treat the uniforms by spraying on the bug-fighting ingredients afterwards.
"While these are effective, the substance washes off after only about 50 washes. In the long term, this is not the most effective or cost-effective way dealing with the problem."
The fibres are made by Acordis using an acrylic-based fibre which is made in Grimsby.
They are then woven into the clothes along with polyester and cotton, the bug-fighting fibres making up 20 to 25 per cent.
New figures have revealed that, far from the infection being stamped out, the number of fatal cases is higher than ever. A report shows that last year 762 cases of the bug were reported in Yorkshire hospitals.
Leeds had the highest total of any trust in the country, accounting for 204 cases. Nationally around 5,000 people died from MRSA last year.
Mr Cox added: "Nurses used to have a number of uniforms given to them and they were washed by hospital laundries.
"But that is fading out now and staff have to take their clothes home and wash them with their own domestic washing.
"And the more the uniforms are washed, the more any anti-bacterial products wash away. But if it is woven into the fabric, it can last the lifetime of the product. The clothes maintain a just-washed level of hygiene throughout the day.
"Of course there is a slightly higher cost involved but in the long term that cost is minimal.
"It is a matter of weighing up the effects of the MRSA bug and looking at the bigger picture.
"You have to look at the cost of people's lives and the longer amount of time people are having to spend in hospital because they are picking up the bug."
Acordis are keen to run trials in NHS trusts, but so far their requests have been rejected.
Alison Langley, spokeswoman for the Department of Health, said: "There is not a central purchasing centre for things like that. Each NHS trust has to decide within a busy hospital if they want to trial any new products.
"The thing that really stops MRSA is stopping it going into wounds and the body, and that is done by reducing the amount of bacteria in the hospital."
andrew.hutchinson@ypn.co.uk