Infection Control Matters

In this episode, Brett and Martin report on a visit to the massive Interclean Expo held biannually in Amsterdam and the Healthcare Hygiene meeting. We report on the staggering range of equipment available and the fact that IPC often has little say in this especially if there are potential risks, referring to a previous podcast https://infectioncontrolmatters.podbean.com/e/investigating-a-unique-cp...

In this episode, Martin has been on the road again and talks to two poster presenters at the IPAC-Canada 2024 conference. In the first part, Martin talks to Margaret Cameron from Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Ontario about the use of the Multiple Mini Interviewing approach to the selection of suitable candidates to become part of the hospital Environmental Service Attendant team. This innov...

This week we have a second batch of posters that we liked at ESCMID Global and will be talking about: VRE Surveillance using hospital waste water during an outbreak Assessing the Hawthorne effect: Implications and solutions The impact of an early Infectious Disease consultation for CLABSI: a single centre retrospective study Semi-continuous disinfection of sinks with UVC on a haematologydepartment...

In this episode Brett, Phil and Martin tour the posters at ESCMID Global 2024 and we discuss some of them with the authors. A link to images of the posters can be found below. Here are the posters we discuss AMR Surveillance in waste water and clinical isolates from a tertiary hospital: Preliminary results Deciphering the temporal short-term dynamics of Acinetobacter baumanii: Impact of colonisati...

It was day 3 at ESCMID Global 2024 and Phil, Brett and Martin mull over the day. Amongst the items we discuss are: What does endogenous really mean? AI in the IPC space - friend or foe? Fungal outbreaks - epidemiological challenges and tracing the source Automated bloodstream infection surveillance The Euro PPS survey results - data in action (or inaction) Subsequent to the podcast recording the E...

In this episode, Phil, Brett and Martin dicuss more sessions from ESCMID Global (Barcelona, 2024). We talk about sessions on cleaning the occupied bed space, SSI prevention and the difficulty of designing and executing good studies in IPC. We were particularly interested in papers from Italy on the use of probiotics in IPC and some papers from Prof Cassini's group are highlighted below. Calabro GE...

In this episode, Brett, Martin and Phil mull over the newly published WHO discussion document on respiratory particles and Martin catches up with Prof Cath Noakes from the School of Engineering in Leeds, UK to get her take on it.   You can download the document we are discussing here https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/global-technical-consultation-report-on-proposed-terminology-for-pathogens-...

In this podcast, Brett and Martin reflect on the "Infection Control Papers of the Year" presented at ECCMID (AKA ESCMID Global) 2024. Here are a selection of some of the papers mentioned: Decolonization in Nursing Homes to Prevent Infection and Hospitalization https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37815935/ Reducing Hospitalizations and Multidrug-Resistant Organisms vi a Regional Decolonization in Hospi...

In our first episode from ECCMID Global 2024, Martin and Brett reflect on the session on design of the healthcare environment sessions from Profs Hilary Humphries and Cath Noakes and a flash poster session featuring VRE Reservoirs in the environment and a tremendous piece of  Burkolderia sleuthing from the UKHSA

In this podcast, we chat with Dr Brian Forde about HAIviz. HAIviz an interactive dashboard for visualising and integrating healthcare-associated genomic epidemiological data. HAIviz displays and links the outbreak timeline, building map, phylogenetic tree, patient bed movements, and transmission network on a single interactive dashboard. You can view and use the tool for free at Permana, B., Harri...

In this episode, Martin Kiernan talks to Mitch Clarke, Clinical Lead and Deputy Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Nottingham University Hospitals in the UK. We discuss an outbreak with a unique NDM CPE infection and look at where the investigations went, including a new reservoir that is a potential source - the floor scrubber. Papers underpinning this work are here: 1. Benbow A, Cla...

In this episode, Martin Talks to Dr Mark Wilcox OBE, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Leeds, Head of Microbiology Research & Development at Leeds University Hospitals NHS Trust and National Clinical Director for Infection Prevention and Control at NHS England. We mull over the possible reasons for the increase in hospital-onset, hospital attributed cases in England, including rib...

In this episode, after an interesting discovery when searching Youtube, Brett and Martin mull over whether toilet plume is a risk factor for hospital-acquired pneumonia and C. difficile infections. The papers we discuss are listed below. Goforth MP, Boone SA, Clark J, Valenzuela PB, McKinney J, Ijaz MK, et al. Impacts of lid closure during toilet flushing and of toilet bowl cleaning on viral conta...

We chat with Dr Deirdre Fitzgerald-Hughes and Aoife Kearney about a national survey undertaken in Ireland. In the survey, they explored CPE knowledge and practices of healthcare workers, including infection prevention and control staff. There were some interesting findings that may be useful in informing IPC education and training, including convincing people that they need to know more. The paper...

In this episode, Martin Kiernan and Phil Russo talk to Professor Michael Borg of the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery in the Medical School at the University of Malta and Head of Department (Infection Control) at Mater Dei Hospital in Malta. We discuss a recent paper desctibing the stages that brought about a 90% reduction in MRSA bloodstream infections over a ten-year period. The main paper we d...

In this week's episode, Martin talks to Dr Tina Joshi, Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology in Peninsula Dental School at the University of Plymouth, UK. We discuss her longstanding interest in Clostridioides difficile and her many publications, one of which on the effectiveness of hypochlorite (or lack of it) on spores has been widely covered in the media. We chat about spore attachment...

In our usual Christmas episode, Brett, Phil and Martin choose our papers and podcasts of 2023. Also this time, Martin set the three of us a challenge: to find an interesting IPC-related paper from the years of our birth (more challenging for some than others..). Martin also reveals the No 1 single in our respective countries on the day of our birth. For Martin, a near miss. For Phil, a very apt so...

In this week's episode Phil and Brett mull over their wishlists for what they would want in a perfect IPC world. They turn out to be a pretty undemanding pair.. not. However they both see a future in which their wishes could become true. Unsurprisingly AI and automated surveillance loom large in their thoughts.

In this episode, Brett and Martin discuss a paper they were recently involved with - a systematic review and meta-analysis on prior room occupancy and the risk to the next person. This paper has been recently published in Infection, Disease and Health . Findings provide some evidence to help inform a risk management approach when determining patient room allocation. The risk of pathogen acquisitio...

In this week's episode, Martin talks to Dr Jon Otter, epidemiologist, scientst, blogger and Joint Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. We discuss a session at the recent ICPIC conference on the problems posed by plasmids in terms of outbreak detection, increasing antimicrobial resistance and environmental reservoirs. You can read more...

In this episode, Brett talks to Martin about a recent paper on the potential pitfalls of ice machines and following manufactures' instructions.   The paper we discuss is called "How clean is your ice machine?"   This paper was published in the journal of hospital infection: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195670123002700

In this episode, Martin talks to Dr Jinny Moore from the National Health Security Agency in England about detecting pathogens in the ICU environment. They discuss a recent paper where whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on presumptive S. capitis NRCS-A isolates was collected from infants admitted to nationwide NICU and from environmental sampling in two distinct NICUs. The discussion includes details on...

This week, Martin talks to Dr Jennifer Meddings, Associate Professor at University of Michigan Health and Internist at Ann Arbor about a recently published survey looking at what interventions are commonly used to prevent device-associated infections. We discuss the findings and focus in on prevention of urinary catheter-associated infections and new devices that may have an impact. The paper can...

In this episode, Martin Kiernan talks to Dr Giorgia Gon, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, L ondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine about a briefing paper that  identifies research priorities for healthcare cleaning in resource-limited settings. We discuss the process of determining the priorities, the groups involved and the final areas that should be targeted with research funding, inc...

In this episode, Martin talks to Giovanni-Battista Fucini about a recent paper from Germany that examined infection rates in critical care in which it was reported that hospitals without sinks in patient rooms have lower infection rates. Newer hospitals in Germany tend not to have sinks in the patient rooms in ICU. The paper we discuss is here: Giovanni-Battista, F., C. Geffers, F. Schwab, M. Behn...