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What do C. difficile and HAP have in common – toilet plume??
In this episode, after an interesting discovery when searching Youtube, Brett and Martin mull over whether toilet plume is a risk factor for hospital-acquired pneumonia and C. difficile infections. The papers we discuss are listed below.
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A national CPE survey of healthcare workers and some interesting sink practices
In the latest episode of Infection Control Matters, Brett and Martin chat with Dr Deirdre Fitzgerald-Hughes and Aoife Kearney about a national survey undertaken in Ireland. In the survey, they explored CPE knowledge and practices of healthcare workers, including infection control staff. There were some interesting findings, that may be useful in informing IPC education…
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C. difficile: Disinfectants, attachment and strain variations
In this week’s episode, Martin talks to Dr Tina Joshi, Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology in Peninsula Dental School at the University of Plymouth, UK. We discuss her longstanding interest in Clostridioides difficile and her many publications, one of which on the effectiveness of hypochlorite (or lack of it) on spores has been widely covered…
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The 2023 End of Year/Christmas Special
In our usual Christmas episode, Brett, Phil and Martin choose our papers and podcasts of 2023. Also this time, Martin set the three of us a challenge: to find an interesting IPC-related paper from the years of our birth (more challenging for some than others..). Martin also reveals the No 1 single in our respective…
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If you could have anything in IPC, what would you want?
In this week’s episode Phil and Brett mull over their wish lists for what they would want in a perfect IPC world. They turn out to be a pretty undemanding pair. not. However they both see a future in which their wishes could become true. Unsurprisingly AI and automated surveillance loom large in their thoughts.
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Would you be admitted to a room where a previous person was infected?
In this episode, Brett and Martin discuss a paper they were recently involved with – a systematic review and meta-analysis on prior room occupancy and the risk to the next person. This paper has been recently published in Infection, Disease and Health. Findings provide some evidence to help inform a risk management approach when determining…
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MDRO Plasmid-related outbreaks – is there anything we can do? With Jon Otter
In this week’s episode, Martin talks to Dr Jon Otter, epidemiologist, scientst, blogger and Joint Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. We discuss a session at the recent ICPIC conference on the problems posed by plasmids in terms of outbreak detection, increasing antimicrobial resistance…
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Ice machines – a chilling thought?
In this episode, Brett talks to Martin about a recent paper on the potential pitfalls of ice machines and following manufactures’ instructions. The paper we discuss is called “How clean is your ice machine?” This paper was published in the journal of hospital infection: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195670123002700
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Detection of pathogens in the neonatal ICU environment with Dr Ginny Moore
In this episode, Martin talks to Dr Jinny Moore from the National Health Security Agency in England about detecting pathogens in the ICU environment. They discuss a recent paper where whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on presumptive S. capitis NRCS-A isolates was collected from infants admitted to nationwide NICU and from environmental sampling in two distinct NICUs.…