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 colonisation pressure in infection in an endemic Indian intensive care unit (Manasa Tantry discussion) Post-an...
May 29, 2024•28 min•Ep. 133
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 ECDC PPS results have been published and can be found here: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/...
May 15, 2024•23 min•Ep. 132
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 i...
May 09, 2024•23 min•Season 3Ep. 131
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...
May 02, 2024•22 min•Ep. 130
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-associ...
Apr 29, 2024•14 min•Ep. 129
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
Apr 27, 2024•13 min•Ep. 128
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). H...
Apr 03, 2024•28 min•Season 3Ep. 126
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 ca...
Mar 20, 2024•21 min•Ep. 127
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...
Mar 07, 2024•26 min•Ep. 125
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...
Feb 21, 2024•15 min•Ep. 124
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 we discuss is: Kearney, A., Humphreys, H., & Fitzgerald-Hughes, D. (2023). Infection prevention...
Feb 07, 2024•29 min•Ep. 123
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 discuss: Borg MA, Suda D, Tartari E, Farrugia C, Xuereb D, Borg Inguanez M. Preventing healthcare-ass...
Jan 24, 2024•38 min•Season 3Ep. 2
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 to surfaces, the effect of disinfectants and the differences between strains. Some of Tina's papers ...
Jan 10, 2024•27 min•Season 4Ep. 122
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 song and for Brett... well, his karaoke debut cannot be far off.. Happy holidays everyone! Martin's 19...
Dec 21, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 121
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.
Dec 13, 2023•21 min•Season 3Ep. 120
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 acquisition appears to remain high, supporting the need for continued investment in this area. Here is a link ...
Nov 29, 2023•14 min•Season 3Ep. 119
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 about Jon's thoughts in his excellent blog post at https://reflectionsipc.com/2023/09/14/cpe-and-pl...
Nov 15, 2023•19 min•Season 3Ep. 118
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
Nov 01, 2023•17 min•Ep. 117
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 the approach to sampling (neonates and environment). Papers discussed: Detection, survival, and per...
Oct 18, 2023•23 min•Season 3Ep. 116
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 be found here: Saint, S., M. T. Greene, S. L. Krein, K. E. Fowler, K. A. Linder, D. Ratz & J. Me...
Oct 04, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 115
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, including cost-effectiveness, the use of biocides or detergents and minimum requirements. You can find a...
Sep 20, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 114
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. Behnke, W. Sunder, J. Moellmann & P. Gastmeier (2023) Sinks in patient rooms in the ICU are associat...
Sep 06, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 113
Martin chats to Phil in Melbourne following a recent presentation. Yes, two old farts reminiscing about the days of wearing out the boot leather collecting surveillance data talk with envy about the potential of HAI surveillance in the era of the electronic medical record, automation and artificial intelligence. Phil refers to data in these two publications: Designing Surveillance of Healthcare-Associated Infections in the Era of Automation and Reporting Mandates The prevalence of healthcare ass...
Aug 23, 2023•16 min•Ep. 112
We discuss One Health in this episode with Professor Tom Riley, using C.difficile as the example of explaining why the concept of One Health is so important. Tom is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, the Australian Society for Microbiology, the American Academy of Microbiology, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Faculty of Science of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, and has published over 400 book chapters and refereed publications....
Aug 09, 2023•15 min•Season 3Ep. 111
This week, Martin talks to Jincy Jerry, Assistant Director of Nursing in Infection Prevention and Control at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. Jincy is a pioneer in the use of Robotic Process Automation in clinical settings within Irish Healthcare. Robotic process automation (RPA) is a software technology that makes it easy to build, deploy, and manage software robots that emulate humans actions interacting with digital systems and software. In 2021, the project recei...
Jul 27, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 110
In this podcast, we talk about the CLEEN and I-CLEEN studies. These are a RCT and quasi-experimental genomics study aiming to determine the effect of additional cleaning of shared medical equipment of the frequency of healthcare associated infections. We also make phone call mid podcast... A shout out to all the team involved in this project, including being wonderfully coordinated by Dr Kate Browne and with great support from Georgia Matterson. Full details on the website below. Link to study w...
Jul 12, 2023•23 min•Season 3Ep. 109
In this episode, Martin Kiernan talks to Sinèad Horgan, Director of Nursing South/South West Hospital Group, and School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health, University College Cork in Ireland. We discuss a journey towards surgical site sueveillance and quality improvement and her recent papers on this topic. We discuss knowledge, attitudes, gaining engagement, buy-in and the importance of patient involvement in SSI prevention. Papers discussed include: Horgan S, et al. Healt...
Jun 28, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 108
In this episode, we discuss a paper in the Lancet Infectious Disease about preventing non-ventilator associate pneumonia including the determinants of implementation success. Brett and Martin chat with Dr Aline Wolfensberger and Professor Hugo Sax, authors of this paper about this important work. Link to paper: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(22)00812-X/fulltext Dr Aline Wolfensberger is a medical doctor, certified in Internal Medicine and in Infectious Diseases a...
Jun 14, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 107
Brett Mitchell talks to Dr Sarah Browning and Professor Josh Davis about a recent paper in Infection, Disease and Health - "Have gloves and gowns had their day?" The evidence for gloves and gowns is discussed, as well as results from a recent survey into their use in Australia and New Zealand. Sarah is an infectious disease physician and Director of Infection Prevention and Control at the Hunter New England (HNE) Health District in NSW, Australia. Josh is infectious disease physician and a clini...
May 31, 2023•21 min•Season 3Ep. 106
In this episode Phil talks to A/Prof Noleen Bennett* about the state of surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship and what her research has discovered in this area. Noleen also tells about an exciting project she is leading called NISPAC, a streamlined infection and antimicrobial use surveillance system for Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities. *Associate Professor Noleen Bennett. Infection Control Consultant, Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance Coordinating Centre and...
May 17, 2023•26 min•Season 3Ep. 105
