Infection Control Matters

In this episode recorded in an Irish Bar in Nelson (NZ), Brett and Martin dive headfirst into the swirling world of toilet aerosols, airborne pathogens, and potential mitigations. We begin with a older study by Scott, Bloomfield, and Barlow examining the effectiveness of disinfection in real-world settings and how this depends heavily on practical application and behavioural compliance. Then we mo...

In this episode, Brett, Phil and Martin discuss a recent paper from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) that examined the timeliness of data points that could be used for a centrally implemented, automated HCAI surveillance system in England, as a potential alternative to the 24 current locally-implemented system. The aim was to examine the potential for a national, automated surveillance system...

In this episode, we discuss the purpose of infection control matters and why we started the podcast. Recorded 1500 days after we started the podcast, Brett, Phil and Martin reflect on the podcast to date. For new listeners, is also a chance to learn more about our approach to the podcast and how to make the most of our website.

In this episode, we explore the crucial disconnect between national infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines and the local policies implemented in residential aged care (RAC) facilities. Brett and Martin talk to Dr Sanne Peters and Dr Kirsty Buising about their recent paper that reports on their recent analysis using the AACTT (Action, Actor, Context, Target, Time) behavioural framework,...

In this episode Martin talks to Dr Andy Borman, (Acting Head and Consultant Clinical Scientist, UKHSA National UK Mycology Reference Lab. also Hon Professor of Medical Mycology, MRC CMM, University of Exeter), Dr Colin Brown (Deputy Director of Emerging and Epidemic Infections at UK Health Security Agency; Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases & Medical Microbiology at Royal Free London N...

In this episode of Infection Control Matters, we explore the potential of AI tools to support education and professional dialogue in infection prevention and control. We used NotebookLM, an experimental tool from Google designed to help users interact with their documents in new ways—summarising, clarifying, and even generating structured discussions based on uploaded content. Using research and g...

In this episode of Infection Control Matters, Martin Kiernan speaks with Dr. Nicole Stoesser about a large-scale, multi-centre study exploring the role of hospital sink infrastructure in antimicrobial resistance and pathogen dissemination. Representing the collaborative NITCAR-led "Sinkbug Consortium" we discuss surprising findings from 29 UK hospitals—including widespread antibiotic residues in s...

In this episode, Brett and Martin chat with Dr. Jessica Schults and Dr. Sally Havers about a recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study used a modified Delphi process to identify key healthcare infection surveillance priorities in Queensland. Through a two-round methodology, infection prevention experts identified 13 key infection measures for a standardized min...

In this episode, Phil and Martin talk to Dr Aline Wolfensberger, Senior Attending Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology at University Hospital Zurich and a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care at the Univetsity of Zurich. We discuss a recent paper that has analysed a range of algorithms for detecting non-ventilator associated...

In this episode Martin Talks to Silvana Gastaldi who is a infection prevention and control health referent at UK-MED (a frontline humanitarian medical NGO). We discuss her revent paper in the Journal of Hospital Infection that reviews the literature on methods of assessing how effective environmental cleaning services and procedures are, including ATP, fluorescent UV marking, visual and microbiolo...

In this episode, Phil Russo talks to Brett Mitchell and Kate Browne about a study that did not make it over the line. Following a systematic review in 2021 that examined the issue of UTIs in those who self catheterise, a study to examine whether previous work demonstrating a reduction in CAUTI in indwelling catheters through the use of Chlorhexidine for meatal cleansing would be effective was desi...

In this episode Brett and Phil chat about a few of the posters presented at the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control 2024 Conference held in Melbourne in November 2024. Poster topics include hand hygiene, surveillance, and a pilot RCT on chlorhexidine impregnated dressings.   You can access poster abstracts below and a pdf of the posters here Improving Hand Hygiene Practices i...

In this episode recorded at the 2024 Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC) Conference in Melbourne, Brett and Phil talk to Dr Sarah Browning (ID Physician at Hunter New England) and two Junior Medical Officers (JMOs) Sam and Lochlan who worked on IPC-related projects whilst on placement.

In this episode, Brett, Phil and Martin reflect on the year. We chat about favourite podcasts, papers and conferences in our usual informal manner (well probably even more informal than normal). Papers we mention are listed below. Cimen C, Bathoorn E, Loeve AJ, Fliss M, Berends MS, Nagengast WB, et al. Uncovering the spread of drug-resistant bacteria through next-generation sequencing based survei...

In this episode of ICMs we talk to the authors of a world first multi-centre double blind cross-over randomised control trial, which explored the effect of in-room air purification on acute respiratory tract infections.  The rationale and pragmatics of undertaking such a trial are explored, as well as interpretation of the findings.   The lead researcher, Bismi Thottiyil Sultanmuhammed Abdul, a Ph...

In this episode, Martin talks to Dr Rebecca Crapanzano-Sigafoos (formerly Bartles) who is Executive Director, Center for Research, Practoce and Innovation at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). We talk about about her work on staffing levels for IPC Teams, beginning with her early work looking at workload and then the recent review and paper on data obta...

In this episode, Martin talks to Cansu Cimen, a researcher at University Hospitals Groningen in the Netherlands, about a recent paper that documents an outbreak and in particular the critical role of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in tracking and controlling the transmission of MDROs via contaminated duodenoscopes. Focusing on an outbreak linked to ESBL-producing Citrobacter freundii and Klebsie...

In this episode recorded live at the IPS Conference in Birmingham UK in September 2024, Martin talks to Claire Fitzsimons, Senior Infection Prevention and Control Practitioner at the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust. We discuss a poster that she presented at the conference that looked as ways of reducing glove use in the ambulance service through a range of improveme...

In this episode, recorded at the 2024 Infection Prevention Society Conference in Birmingham (UK) Brett and Martin talk to Conor McGinn, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Trinity College Dublin and CEO of Akara AI, a robotics company spin-off from Trinity. We talk about a presentation that Conor gave, demonstrating how infrared sensors analysed by...

In our second live session at a major conference, this episode of Infection Control Matters was recorded live at a plenary session to close day 1 of the Infection Prevention Society conference (Birmingham, UK). Our guest panelists include Dr Berit Muller-Pebody an Epidemiologist from the UK Health Security Agency, Prof Jennie Wilson from the University of West London and Dr Jacqui Prieto from The...

Dr Gemma L Saravanos (she/her) is an infectious diseases epidemiologist and a Registered Nurse leading public health research, and education of pre-registration nursing students. She is based at the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sydney and works across the Camperdown (Patyegarang) and Westmead (Baludarri) campuses in Sydney.   In this episode, Phil chats to Gemma about...

Our guest host, Dr Sally Havers this week talks to some of authors from ClEaning and Enhancd DisinfectioN (CLEEN) study (including some regular voices..). The study was recently published in the Lancet Infectious Disease (link below).   The CLEEN study is a world first RCT that explores the impact of cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment on HAIs. The study reports significant reduc...

In this episode, Brett and Martin discuss a recent paper from Sarah Browning and colleagues that describes how an RCT on the ending of aspects of contact precautions (gloves and aprons) for MRSA and VRE could be conducted. The paper can be found here: https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(24)00243-X/abstract   Our other podcasts on contact precautions, gloves and apro...

In this episode, Martin Kiernan catches up with Dr Gonzalo Bearman, Professor of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA. We talk about the opportunities and dangers of using large language models like ChatGPT in the infecton prevention space. A link to a recent open access paper on this topic is here Langford BJ, Branch-Elliman W, Nori P, Marra AR, Bearman G. Confront...

In this episode, Martin Kiernan talks to representatives of the Multi-disciplinary Team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK, Dr Jessica Martin IPC Matron Adele Dyche and Haematology Matron Katie Sweeting . Building on from previously published work, they describe how efforts from the front line can impact on water safety, including initiatives such as sink removal, education programmes...