Infection Control Matters

In this episode, Brett and Martin talked to Dr Nico Tom Mutters about the papers he selected in the always popular ‘Year in Infection Control’ session at ESCMID Global 2026. Nico is Director of the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health at Bonn University Hospital and also Chair of EUCIC (European Committee on Infection Control).…

In this episode, Brett and Martin reflect on the IPC components a major conference. Recorded after our visit to ESCMID Global 2026 held in Munich, Germany in April, this episode brings together key insights and conversations from across the first three days of the meeting. We reflect on emerging evidence, practical challenges, and the real-world…

In this episode, recorded live from Interclean in Amsterdam, Brett and Martin highlight the contibution of Clean Hospitals to healthcare hygiene and reflect on the contrast between healthcare cleaning and the wider cleaning industry. While the scale, innovation, and investment in cleaning technology are impressive, much of it is not designed with healthcare realities in…

How well do we really measure bloodstream infections and could it be routinely automated? In this episode, Brett and Martin look at two papers on automated hospital-onset bacteraemia (HOB) surveillance, one a retrospective review in a single hospital in Berlin (Rüther et al) and a national UK study (Cregan, Oxford and UKHSA) exploring whether surveillance…

In this episode, Martin and Brett talk about what is a high risk and what is a high touch surface. Are they the same? The discussion is based on the following paper: Zheng et al (2025). “High-touch” surfaces are not always “high-risk” surfaces in ICU environment. Journal of hospital infection.  https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(26)00079-4/fulltext

Back in July 2022 when the world was opening up again Brett, Phil and Martin were all in Melbourne and met up for a chat. The topic was ‘Are we experts’, however due to incompetence (Martin) the recording was terrible and his rather poor editing skills (learnt entirely by watching YouTube videos from Mike Russell)…

In this podcast, Phil and Brett speak with Dr Lyn-Li Lim from VICNISS in Victoria, Australia. Dr Lim and colleagues recently explored the infection control resourcing levels in 113 facilities, including FTE per 100 beds. A link to the publication is here. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019665532500570X 

In this podcast, Phil and Brett speak with Dr Lyn-Li Lim from VICNISS (Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System)in Australia. Dr Lim and colleagues recently explored the infection prevention and control resourcing levels in 113 facilities, including FTE per 100 beds. This podcast explores the differences in resourcing for different categories of hospitals. A link…

In this episode, Martin Kiernan talks to Dr Sarah Fieldhouse, Associate Professor of Forensic Science and Dr Emmanuel Babafemi, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences both of the University of Staffordshire, UK. We discuss a recent paper looking at hospital cleanliness. Using forensic light, the study uncovered invisible contamination on surfaces that looked clean to the…

In this episode, Martin talks to Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope and colleagues at the UK Health Security Agency about the 2025 ESPAUR report, focusing on what the latest data mean for clinicians, infection prevention teams, and health system leaders. We explore what the latest data reveal about antimicrobial resistance and prescribing trends in England, including changes in…