It’s great to see the latest ESPAUR report published at the start of World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2021. There’s some good news in the report, but also some warning shots about our need to refocus on the risks attached to antimicrobial resistance as we move into the Covid endemic.
A guest post by Professor Sally Bloomfield explores whether we are over-emphasizing the role of hand washing in preventing the spread of infection…
If you ask whether I think hand hygiene is the single most important intervention for preventing spread of infection, I would answer yes. But I also think the COVID pandemic requires us to re-evaluate how we look at infection prevention (or hygiene) to make it relevant to the issues we now face, which are as much about “airborne “ transmission routes as hands and contact surfaces.
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One of the questions I get asked a lot is “where is the evidence that wearing eye protection reduces the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, because it’s really annoying to wear and creates other risks related to reduced vision”. A new systematic review examines the effect of eye protection on reducing healthcare worker exposure to SARS-CoV-2. The short answer is that there is enough evidence to convince me that eye protection should be part of our SARS-CoV-2 PPE ensemble.
Continue readingIn honour of Infection Prevention and Control Week (#IIPW) 2021, I thought I put up a quick post based on a talk I did on Friday last week about the ‘Future of Healthcare and of Infection Prevention and Control’ (you can download my slides here). I used it as an opportunity to put across my strategic priorities for the next 3-5 years. And COVID-19 is bottom of the list – keep reading to find out why…
Continue readingA remarkable new NEJM study has shown that the prophylactic administration of monoclonal antibodies reduces the risk of household contacts developing symptomatic or asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2. For those who did develop symptomatic infection, monoclonal antibodies reduced to duration of disease and the duration of high viral load. This study opens up the possibility of a new tool to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to vulnerable patients in our hospitals. Is the future of managing hospital contacts of SARS-CoV-2 the prophylactic administration of monoclonal antibodies?
Probably the most contentious aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been PPE for staff. And within that, the most contentious aspect of PPE has been respiratory protection when caring for patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19: to FFP or not to FFP? I have been involved in a review of international guidelines to identify variation and track the changes in the guidelines over time. Things have changed as evidence has emerged, but international guidelines still disagree on where and when FFP respirators should be worn when caring for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The review also tracked variation and changes in recommendations about what should be considered an AGP.
Continue readingA Journal of Hospital Infection special edition focusses on the cost of HCAI, publishing the results of the Scottish from the Evaluation of Cost of Nosocomial Infection (ECONI) Study.
Continue readingAs we get into gear to prepare for the next epidemic wave of COVID-19 affecting healthcare providers (hoping that it will not come), it’s a good time to review where we have got to with the surveillance of healthcare-associated COVID-19. Colleagues at Imperial have just published a systematic review of the latest literature on this important issue. Whilst uncertainties remain about surveillance definitions and exactly what “healthcare-associated COVID-19 infection” is, the message is clear that healthcare-providers must have in place clear and rapid systems for identifying healthcare-associated COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in healthcare facilities.
Continue readingPHE released the latest epidemiological summary of the B.1.617.2 VOC (aka “the variant that was first identified in India”) a few days ago. Evidence is emerging rapidly, and the datasets are far from conclusive. But it now seems clear that B.1.617.2 is more transmissible, causes no more hospitalisation or mortality, and vaccine effectiveness is slightly reduced when compared with other variants.
Continue readingAs you may have heard, there’s a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC) on the block. So what do we know about this new variant? And how much of a threat does it pose to the pre-COVID freedom that we can see on the near horizon?
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Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control 