Infection Control Matters

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

1. AMR Surveillance in waste water and clinical isolates from a tertiary hospital: Preliminary results

Poster link to see the posters we discuss Posters from ESCMID Global - Part 1

More posters to come!

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?

Subsequent to the podcast recording the ECDC PPS results have been published and can be found here:

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/healthcare-associated--infections-antimicrobial-use-point-prevalence-survey-2016-2017.pdf

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, Caselli E, Rognoni C, Laurenti P, Moscato U, ML DIP, et al. [Health Technology Assessment of the introduction of the Probiotic Cleaning Hygiene System (PCHS) in the Italian healthcare setting: update]. J Prev Med Hyg. 2023;64:E1-E35. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37881619
  

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-that-transmit-through-the-air

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 Hospitals and Nursing Homes https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38557703/

Prevention of non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia in Switzerland: a type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36893785/

Skin Antisepsis before Surgical Fixation of Extremity Fractures https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2307679

Trial of Vancomycin and Cefazolin as Surgical Prophylaxis in Arthroplasty https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2301401

Environmental cleaning to prevent hospital-acquired infections on non-intensive care units: a pragmatic, single-centre, cluster randomized controlled, crossover trial comparing soap-based, disinfection and probiotic cleaning https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37089619/

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., Harris, P. N., Roberts, L. W., Cuddihy, T., Paterson, D. L., Beatson, S. A., & Forde, B. M. (2024). HAIviz: an interactive dashboard for visualising and integrating healthcare-associated genomic epidemiological data. Microbial Genomics, 10(2), 001200.

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, Clarke M, Yates C, Montgomery R, Staniforth K, Boswell T, et al. Hospital-wide healthcare-associated carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales outbreak: risks of electric floor scrubbers in catering facilities and kitchens. J Hosp Infect. 2024;146:59-65. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38341149

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 ribotypes and antibiotic use. Given that the NHS is under great stress, we discuss the damage potential from a ribotype 955 which shares some genetic characteristics with the 027 ribotype that caused so many problems in the UK and worldwide in the early 2000s. One thing that we agree on is that reductions targets (with teeth) have been very successful in the past and should we venture in that direction again?

Information on data collection, hospital and national typing reports for England can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/clostridium-difficile-guidance-data-and-analysis#epidemiology

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 contamination of surfaces in United States restrooms. Am J Infect Control 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2023.11.020