I’ve written this post in preparation for Wednesday’s IPS Journal Club (register here). The paper that I have chosen for the Journal Club is this one in the Journal of Infection Prevention, comparing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 dispersal through the air with an inhaler vs. nebuliser.
Continue readingCOVID-19
“Through the air”
There has been a huge amount of debate, discussion (and occasional vitriol) about transmission routes for respiratory pathogens, especially SARS-CoV-2. One of the sticking points has been different perspectives on the terminology used. I was privileged to join a working group convened by WHO to propose some new terminology to underpin this discussion. The proposed new terminology has been published recently, and I’d thought I’d share some reflections! Whilst I don’t think this will turn our IPC practice upside down, it is a step towards a more informed approach to preventing the spread of respiratory pathogens.
Continue readingDoes universal masking in hospitals prevent healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 infection?
A new study in JHI uses a pragmatic time series analysis to provide some data to suggest that stopping a universal mask mandate at St. George’s Hospital in London did not result in an increase in healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2. The authors were careful to point out that the findings do not show that “masks don’t work”, but rather that in this setting, at this time of the pandemic, removing a universal masking mandate didn’t result in a detectable increase in the rate of healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2.
Continue readingScreening and contact precautions reduces the risk of MRSA HCAI
Remember all of those difficult decisions during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic? Which patient gets the ventilator? Who gets the single room? What has to stop to keep on top of the continuous flow of new SARS-CoV-2 results to investigate? Well, one of those difficult decisions was whether or not to continue with screening and contact precautions to prevent the spread of MRSA. A US team made a compelling “natural experiment” out of the discontinuation of screening and contact precautions for MRSA, showing that this was associated with an increased risk of MRSA HCAI.
Continue readingThe “top 10” scientific articles influencing our IPC practice over the past year
I had the pleasure of doing a talk at Infection Prevention 2023 in Liverpool today, running down the top 10 scientific articles influencing our IPC practice over the past year. You can download my slides here.
I had some trouble selecting just 10 papers from the past year, and felt a strong sense of my own bias and limitations when going through the selection process. I have my own research and clinical interests, I don’t read anywhere near as many papers as I’d like, and 10 papers really isn’t that many! Also, I tried to countdown the papers from 10 to 1 with some kind of hierarchy. After a couple of false starts here (including the most read, most controversial, best designed), I settled on the most influential in terms of challenging our thinking or modifying our practice.
So, here goes…
Continue readingHaving a nose into nasal photodisinfection
When’s the last time you picked your nose? If you’re an adult, it was very probably earlier today – the average adult picks their nose around 4 times per day (eew). And that’s picking – touching is much more frequent: on average, we touch our eyes, mouth, nose, or chin a staggering 20 times per hour (with some estimates even higher). We’ve known for a while that nasal decolonisation is a vital component in reducing the risk of staphylococcal infection. But using mupirocin as the nasal decolonisation agent has important limitations in terms of spectrum of microbiological efficacy, compliance, and antibiotic resistance. I’ve recently come across a newer technology for nasal decolonisation: nasal photodisinfection. It’s been around for ages, but hasn’t really been adopted widely. This blog provides an overview of three studies that suggest nasal photodisinfection may have a role in reducing the risk of SSI, and in preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Continue readingAre we now over-emphasizing the role of handwashing in preventing spread of infection?
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.
Continue readingCOVID-19 and PPE: don’t forget your eyes!
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 readingSetting our IPC priorities for the next 3-5 years
In 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 readingEarly data on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in England
Results from the SIREN study published yesterday bring us some much-needed good news: the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is very effective in preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers!
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Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control 