Are hand dryers safe for clinical settings?

April 20, 2016April 20, 2016 Jon Otter (@jonotter) Hand hygiene contamination, hand dryer, paper towel

I edited a paper for Journal of Hospital Infection a few years ago on the potential risk of warm air dryers and especially jet air dryers compared with paper towels in spreading microbial contamination via the air. The paper showed that hands dipped in a concentrated bacterial suspension resulted in fairly widespread bacterial contamination of the air; jet air dryers were the worst culprit, followed by warm air dryers, with paper towels resulting in markedly less contamination. They also did some cool paint splatter experiments to visualize potential contamination routes (see image above, from the paper).

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Preventing UTI: Could probiotics help?

April 18, 2016April 18, 2016 Martin Kiernan (@emrsa15) Antibiotic resistance, Biofilm, MDR-GNR, Urinary Tract Infection

24142960319_9117fccedc_z A study protocol has caught my eye this week, a trial of oral probiotics vs placebo as prophylaxis for UTI in spinal cord patients, a very high risk group for these infections and associated complications. It will be a multi-site randomised double-blind double-dummy placebo-controlled factorial design study running over 24 weeks conducted in New South Wales, Australia. Probably about as robust as it gets scientifically. Continue reading →

English HCAI and AMR data at your Fingertips

April 7, 2016 Jon Otter (@jonotter) Antibiotic resistance amr, antimicrobial, Clostridium difficile, MRSA, MSSA

PHE have just launched an interactive database for HCAI and AMR data from England using their ‘Fingertips’ platform. The HCAI data in the module has been available for years, but was buried in pretty dense Excel spreadsheets so tricky to visualise. The Fingertips platform makes data extraction and visualisation so easy even I can do it (example below).

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Diluting the efficacy of hydrogen peroxide room decontamination?

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016 Jon Otter (@jonotter) Disinfection automated room disinfection, decontamination, hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide aerosol, hydrogen peroxide vapour

A somewhat perplexing new study has just been published in the Journal of Hospital Infection comparing the effectiveness of two hydrogen peroxide based automated room decontamination systems: a low-concentration (5%) hydrogen peroxide system (Deprox) and a high-concentration (30%) hydrogen peroxide system (Bioquell).

The study evaluated the impact of the two systems each run in 10 single rooms containing seeded metal discs placed in five locations, with a 6-log load of MRSA, K. pneumoniae, and C. difficile spores. The MRSA and K. pneumoniae were either low soiling (0.03% BSA) or heavy soiling (10% BSA), and the C. difficile spores was either low soiling (0.03% BSA) or in body fluid. In addition, surface samples were taken from 22 surfaces in each room before and after decon using contact plates. The bottom line is that both systems achieved a >5-log reduction on all of the discs (including those with heavy soiling), and there were no real differences in the levels of surface contamination remaining. All this understandably moved the authors to conclude that ‘The starting concentration and mode of delivery of hydrogen peroxide may not improve the efficacy of decontamination in practice.’

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Poultry production and antimicrobial resistance in India

March 30, 2016 Andreas Voss (@AVIPNL) Antibiotic resistance antibiotic resistance, antibiotics, poultry

Schermafbeelding 2016-03-31 om 00.46.37

Take a look at these three stories on intensive poultry production and antimicrobial resistance in India published yesterday on the Bloomberg website. In accordance with what the movie industry does, these articles should be accompanied by a warning: “These articles contains scenes that some readers may find disturbing”. As the editor of the articles said in an email to colleagues that forwarded it to me: “I think you’ll agree that these are important stories and deserve attention (and hopefully a response from the appropriate authorities and the community).” Obviously, I do agree.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-03-29/antibiotic-apocalypse-fear-stoked-by-india-s-drugged-chickens

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-29/hen-s-eye-view-of-drug-use-in-the-fastest-growing-chicken-market

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-29/baby-s-death-shows-global-threat-from-wonder-drug-s-demise

Review on AMR: Report on Infection Prevention and Control, and Surveillance

March 22, 2016 Jon Otter (@jonotter) Antibiotic resistance amr, IPC, Review AMR, surveillance

The Review on AMR published their final instalment today: a report on Infection Prevention and Control, and Surveillance. A report on IPC was not planned at the start of the Review, so the existence of this report illustrates the responsiveness of the Review team. Also, having been peripherally involved in reviewing this report, I am aware that it was written within an extremely short timeframe but it does not show: it is comprehensive and thought-provoking (as it should be) with some useful recommendations.

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