I was really pleased to have the opportunity to speak at IPS this year on how important it is to choose our words carefully and talk the same language to connect with our audience when communicating HCAI and AMR. My main reflection from preparing the talk is that people listen to you when the message is clear and personal, and they lose interest if the message is complicated or not relevant to them. Simple and small changes to the language that we use in the message that we deliver can make a big impact on the way that people respond. You can view my slides here.
Continue readingOmicron COVID-19 harm and winter IPC strategy
We have just published an evaluation of Omicron COVID-19 harm as a research letter in the Journal of Infection. This multicentre study reported the findings of a retrospective review of 129 patients with healthcare-associated Omicron COVID-19, and found that the harm profile was very different to previous waves: a small proportion of patients required supplemental oxygen, escalation to critical care, had an extended length of stay, or died from COVID-19. This informs our winter IPC strategy: whilst COVID-19 is more than “just a cold”, the balance between direct and indirect harms from COVID-19 has shifted towards preventing indirect harms (like reduced hospital throughput and delayed diagnosis) and more of a focus on other issues (e.g. flu, Gram-negative BSIs etc).
Continue readingSome highlights and takeaways from Infection Prevention 2022
I spent a lovely few days down in Bournemouth for Infection Prevention 2022, and thought I’d share a few of my highlights and takeaways. (And yes, I did manage to have a swim in the sea!)
Continue readingCOVID-19 ain’t what it used to be
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept through various epidemic waves each characterised by a different variant, the trend has been towards more transmissibility but less virulence of SARS-CoV-2. The emergence of the Omicron variant continued this trend, and we are now seeing some data to compare the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 with other variants. A huge Lancet study (1.5m patients!) demonstrates clearly that the risk of hospital attendance, hospitalisation, and death is significantly lower with Omicron compared with Delta. This is important because the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 acquisition are an important factor in deciding on our management strategy – as a hospital group and in general.
Continue readingEverybody’s talking about the Lancet Commission on COVID-19
The Lancet has published a hard-hitting piece on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The report includes a blow-by-blow account of the pandemic and the lessons that have emerged, and some important recommendations from a global public health viewpoint. Unsurprisingly, this piece has generated a lot of interest and people are talking about it, which is no bad thing!
Continue readingImproving environmental hygiene reduces HCAI: but which monitoring method is most effective?
A superb cluster randomised trial has just been published in Clinical Infectious Diseases testing whether improved environmental hygiene via objective monitoring and feedback reduces HCAI. The study also tests whether ATP or UV fluorescent marker monitoring is more effective. The findings reinforce that improving environmental hygiene reduces HCAI, and (I think surprisingly) suggest that ATP is more effective than UV monitoring.
Continue readingBeware reusable PPE!
A new JHI study highlights the dangers associated with reusable PPE, and related to PPE doffing in general. The study used a clinical simulation suite to monitor the spread of fluorescent material added to the outside of an N95 respirator during routine care for mannequin adult patients (with COVID-19!). Whilst some modes of PPE reuse were better than others, all of the clinicians involved in the study ended up contaminating the clinical environment with fluorescent material originating from the mask.
Continue readingStand-alone air decontamination units: some questions…
I’ve been involved recently in a comparative evaluation of several stand-alone air decontamination units. Please feel free to take a look at our (very!) preliminary findings here. I also attended the HIS Spring Meeting today, which was all about ventilation in healthcare settings. Whilst I found the day interesting and thought provoking, I’ve left with more questions than I had before!
Continue readingCOVID-19 – what have we learned?
I did a talk at an IPC conference the other day trying to summarise what we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. You can see my slides here. I think (hope) we have learned a lot – and still have more to learn – about (in no particular order): PPE, transmission routes, testing and laboratory factors, vaccination, organizational transformation, guidelines and policy development, regulatory framework, outbreaks, non-COVID pathogens, antimicrobial stewardship, digital transformation, applied research, and the mental health of our workforce.
We need to talk about gloves…
As we warm up for world hand hygiene day tomorrow, it’s a good time to have a talk about gloves. I challenge you to go onto a hospital ward and time how long it takes before you see some questionable glove practice. It won’t be long before you see somebody coming out of a room used by a patient on some transmission based precautions with gloves on. Or somebody commuting around the ward with gloves on. Or somebody putting gloves on in preparation for patient care who can’t quite articulate why. So, as many of us launch new patient care pathways in the next phase of the pandemic, and as the national IPC manual has just been published in England, it’s a really good time to talk about when we don’t need to use gloves, which is most of the time!
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Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control 