Infection Control Matters

2025 Christmas Special

This is our traditional end of year Christmas special. In this episode we consider highlights from year and have a bit of fun - including a stakeout in London.
We talk about our views on the most significant systematic review, our favourite presentation/poster, RCTs would like to see and predictions for 2026.

Unseen Reservoirs, Unseen Risks: Integrating Wastewater Surveillance with Patient-Level Insights into C. auris Spread

In this episode, Martin talks to Dr Jon Otter, Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London, UK. We examine two complementary pieces of work that provide further insight into Candidozyma auris transmission in acute hospitals. The first demonstrates, for the first time in the UK, that ward-level wastewater reliably mirrors patient colonisation and can reveal genetically related outbreak strains using culture and PCR. The second, a case–control study, identifies clinical and environmental risk factors that shape colonisation, highlighting the significance of shared patient equipment.
The paper can be found here: Davidson HC, Griffin AE, Symes L, Laing KG, Witney AA, Gould K, et al. Detection of Candidozyma (formerly Candida) auris from ward wastewater during an outbreak using culture and molecular methods. J Hosp Infect 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2025.10.024 
A copy of the poster can be downloaded here

Can ward rounds transform IPC education?

In this episode, Martin speaks with Helen Dunn, Consultant Nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, a Children's Hospital in London, UK. Helen is the lead author of a recent study published in the Journal of Infection Prevention, exploring whether structured ward rounds can be used as an innovative method for delivering Infection Prevention and Control education directly in the clinical environment. This work implemented a bedside ward-round model with Band 6 nurses in a paediatric cardiac high-dependency unit, using a structured assessment tool to prompt real-time, patient-focused discussions. The findings highlight that this approach created frequent education opportunities, strengthened relationships between clinical teams and IPC practitioners, and reduced the number of IPC interventions required over time.
Dunn H, Blackburn P, Cloutman-Green E. Can ward rounds be used by infection prevention control teams to deliver education and enhance knowledge to clinical staff. J Infect Prev 2025;26(6):17571774251366930. https://doi.org/10.1177/17571774251366930.
Article on Schulman's Signature Pedagogies here

Reducing harm at the Front Line: Oral Care driving down C. difficile and Line Care - the Power of Better Data

In this episode, Martin spoke to the authors of two compelling posters showcased at the 2025 Infection Prevention Society Conference in Brighton, each discussing practical, data-driven approaches to reducing avoidable harm. Download the posters and have a listen to two authors with a passion for their projects.
First, Catherine Lemsalu, a Dental Nurse from the IPC Team at University Hospital Plymouth discusses her quality-improvement work on an acute stroke ward, demonstrating how structured mouth-care assessment, targeted staff education, and consistent daily oral care contributed to reductions in non-ventilated hospital-acquired pneumonia and Clostridioides difficile infections. Her poster highlights how simple, early interventions—done well—can strengthen antimicrobial stewardship, improve patient outcomes, and build ward-level capability through mouth-care champions.
We then explored the development of a national surveillance framework and digital tool for vascular access device–related bloodstream infections (VAD-BSI) with Sue Rowlands from The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. Their multidisciplinary initiative has created a standardised, user-friendly approach to classifying VAD-BSI, identifying risk factors, and generating automated visual outputs that support local reporting, audit, and education. Early pilot data show strong usability, enhanced insight into bloodstream infection epidemiology, and meaningful impact on line-care practice.
Posters can be downloaded here:
Reduction of hospital-acquired pneumonia and Clostridioides difficile infections through focused line care
Developing a surveillance framework and digital tool for Vascular Access Device-Related Bloodstream Infections (VAD-BSI): improving patient safety through local data and national insight

Posters from the 2025 Innovation Academy at ICPIC and from the UK IPS Conference

In this episode, Brett and Martin discuss a few posters that interested them from recent major infection prevention conferences.Brett was at the ICPIC Conference in Geneva and found plenty of interest in the Innovation academy. 
Tracing hand pathogen transmission with and without hand hygiene with a newly developed DNA-encapsulating Lipid Nanoparticle system 
Innovative FFP2 procedural mask for safer high-risk procedures
A new medical mask made of filtering, transparent and ecofriendly material
AI for healthcare-associated infection
Martin was on his travels as well and recorded a few discussions with poster presenters at the 2025 Infection Prevention Society conference at Brighton in the south of the UK (more in the next episode). On this occasion he spoke to Frances Butson from the IPC Team at Gloucester Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. We discussed a new approach to providing the hospital board with assurance of best practice by having 'bottom-up' local assessments rather than using a more traditional IPC team approach. Additionally, to foster better communications in the organisation the team there have a local podcast called IPC In Action, which can be found here: https://shows.acast.com/ipc-in-action-podcast and also on Youtube etc.
The poster can be found here: 

Infection Control Matters Live from the 2026 IPS Brighton Conference

In this episode, Martin Kiernan hosts a panel discussion at the 2026 Infection Prevention Society Conference in Brighton, United Kingdom.
The Panel comprised:
Dr Stephane Bouchoucha, Associate Professor in Nursing and Associate Head of School (International) in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Deakin University in Melbourne, New South Wales Australia. Stephane is the current President of the Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control
Dr Mark Garvey, Consultant Clinical Scientist in Microbiology and  Deputy Director of Infection Prevention and Control for the Infection Prevention and Control Service at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB)
Kerry Holden, Lead Nurse and Deputy Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. Kerry is the current IPS Vice-President.
Dr Maura Smiddy,  Director of the MSc in Infection Prevention and Control at University College Cork in Ireland and Chair of the  IPS Research and Development Group.
Lorraine Williams, Deputy Director of Infection Prevention & Control and Lead Nurse for IPC. Lorraine is a former IPS Vice-President.
Topics we discuss include:
Why are infection rates not falling?
What can be done to reduce infections in long-term care that require readmission to hospital
If each panel member were given £1,000,000 for an implementation, what would they do?
If each panel member had to stop doing something that the infection prevention team currently does, what would that be?

Cutting CDC and IPC funding in the US - Implications and what can we do?

In this podcast, Brett and Phil have a chat with Professor David Weber on the sidelines of the ICPIC conference in Geneva. We chat about the funding cuts for the WHO and the US CDC, including the disbandment of HICPAC - and what this means for IPC. We discuss what is being done and what needs to happen to fill the void and to ensure contemporary IPC evidence and guidelines are available.
 
Prof Weber, a distinguished leader in infection prevention and healthcare epidemiology, is the current President of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Prof Weber has also held many leadership and committee roles, including with HICPAC.

Safeguarding During Transit: RAF Expertise in High Consequence Infectious Disease Retrieval

In this episode Martin talks to Squadron Leader Tez Cooling and Flight Lieutenant Emma Foley about their work in the Royal Air Force (RAF) retrieval service for patients with known and suspected High Consequence Infectious Disease who are transferred to specialist units in the UK.
The team discuss how the Air Transportable Isolator (ATI) is used in order to safely carry out repatriations in a timely manner and the training that is required to operate suct a specialist service.
 

The no diaper (AKA nappy) zone - reducing CAUTI?

In this 2-segment episode, Brett, Phil and Martin firstly mull over a nurse-led, bottom up (pun intended) quality improvement project that aimed to reduce CAUTI in a neonatal ICU in Georgia, USA. Having discussed how great it is to see this type of work written up, Martin then spoke to Katie Cabral the lead author for more insights and to find out if the innovation has been sustained.
 
Cabral K, Anderson V, Allen I, Hoskins D, Byers K, Gettis M. Entering a No Diaper Zone: Rethinking Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection. Critical care nurse 2025;45(4):21-8. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2025843 

Can modelling tell us what factors influence CAUTI in long and short-term catheters?

In this episode, Brett, Phil and Martin discuss a recent paper from Freya Bull and colleagues, who undertook a modelling exercise to determine what factors determine the colonisation process for long and short-term urinary catheters. It turns out that different factors are in play here and that strategies for CAUTI prevention miht be different for each.
You can read the paper here:
Bull F, Tavaddod S, Bommer N, Perry M, Brackley CA, Allen RJ. Different factors control long-term versus short-term outcomes for bacterial colonisation of a urinary catheter. Nat Commun 2025;16(1):3940. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59161-y. 
Brett's group's previous work on short-term catheters is here:
Fasugba O, Cheng AC, Gregory V, Graves N, Koerner J, Collignon P, et al. Chlorhexidine for meatal cleaning in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections: a multicentre stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2019;19(6):611-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30736-9.