One of the most important considerations in wound management is the prevention and management of infection. Infection delays the wound healing process and causes considerable risk of cross contamination within clinical settings. As micro organisms become increasingly resistant to antibiotic treatment, the emphasis on strict infection control procedures is of paramount importance. There are two elements to a successful management program: reduction of the levels of bacterial activity quickly and providing a sustained rate of kill while the wound is vulnerable to further infection. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two topical antimicrobial dressings (cadexomer iodine and hydrofiber with silver) with respect to efficacy against various wound pathogens. In this study the dressings were evaluated against MRSA (Methicillin resistant S. aureus), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and VRE (Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus). Standard methodology was used to determine the log reduction in the number of bacterial colonies of each pathogen at the following time points: 0.5, 2, 8, and 24 hrs as compared to control of no dressing. The results indicated that cadexomer iodine demonstrated bactericidal activity within 30 minutes and maintained it over the 24 hour test period. This equates to greater than 6 log reduction for both MRSA and P. aeruginosa and greater than 5 log reduction for VRE. The hydrofiber with silver gave little reduction in numbers against both MRSA and VRE over the 24 hour test period. The reductions for these organisms were approximately 2 log and 1 log respectively. Against P. aeruginosa hydrofiber with silver did demonstrate bactericidal activity after 8 hours and maintained this over the 24 hours. The log reductions achieved by cadexomer iodine were greater than those achieved by hydrofiber with silver, against all 3 test organisms in this in vitro test at all time points.