Infection Control Matters

Publish or we are all damned: The effect of COVID on journal publications with John McConnell of the Lancet

In this episode from the 2021 ICPIC Conference, Martin Kiernan talks to John McConnell, Editor-in-Chief of the Lancet Infectious Diseases about his keynote yesterday about the impact (and vice-versa) of the COVID pandemic on publishing both in peer-reviewed journals and in pre-print forms.
An enormous increase in the number of submissions and diversification in countries submitting are amongst the areas that we discuss. Ultimately, the research and publication process has been critical in the dissemination of the most useful data that have shaped interventions and treatments.

Looking to ICPIC Conference 2021 with Prof Didier Pittet and Prof Stephan Harbarth

In this special episode, Martin Kiernan talks to the ICPIC 2021 Conference organisers, Profs Didier Pittet and Stephan Harbarth about the upcoming meeting to be held in Geneva. With over 400 delegates attending in person from all over Europe and further afield, this will be the first major meeting to have a significant face-to-face element since the onset of the COVID pandemic.
We discuss COVID safety, programme highlights and whether hybrid design will be the future of conferences. Details of the conference and the programme can be found here https://conference.icpic.com/
We hope to bring a few daily highlights during the meeting, so watch out for special episodes.

Cleaning up the air using air cleaners and purifiers with Jason Monty

In this episode Brett and Phil discuss improving the quality of air to reduce the risk of infection from airborne pathogens with Professor Jason Monty. We discuss air cleaner and purifiers, their role, what to consider when purchasing and practical considerations for their use.
Prof Monty is Head of Department and a Professor with the Fluid Mechanics Group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Melbourne. Jason is an expert in experimental fluid mechanics and hydrodynamics and is experienced with field measurements of atmospheric turbulence. In recent times, Jason has worked with clinicians in improving air quality to reduce the risk of infection from COVID-19.
 
Link to publications
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/abs/use-of-portable-air-cleaners-to-reduce-aerosol-transmission-on-a-hospital-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid19-ward/17C5199D3903ABD465017C34AA741826 
Which air cleaners work best to remove aerosols that contain viruses?
https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/news/28835-which-air-cleaners-work-best-to-remove-aerosols-that-contain-viruses%3F

CAUTI - decades of little progress?

In this episode Brett Mitchell and Martin Kiernan chew the fat over the fact that, despite knowing that it makes up a great proportion of HCAIs globally, progress can be measured in a series of small victories without actually winning the war. We discuss a new systematic review that suggests benefit from meatal cleansing with antiseptics (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8190044/pdf/bmjopen-2020-046817.pdf) as well as barriers to progress in this important issue https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(21)00149-3/fulltext
We will return to this topic again!

Mind your language! With Claire Kilpatrick and Martin Shovel

In this week's episode, Martin Kiernan talks to WHO Consultant Claire Kilpatrick and Martin Shovel, a writer, satirical cartoonist and communications coach who runs Creativityworks, an organisation that offers training and workshops in the art of communication (https://creativityworks.net/).
We look at words and they way that they make people feel. Cold words (like 'compliance') are a huge turn-off, so can we find ways of gaining better engagement through the use of language?
Read one of Martin's blogs on the use of language here https://creativityworks.net/blog/?id=a-word-about-words
Also mentioned is a 1998 paper by Edna Kretzer and Elaine Larson (https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(98)80008-4/pdf)

Compassion and Infection Prevention - Not mutually exclusive!

In this week's episode Brett MItchell and Martin Kiernan talk to Julie Storr. Julie is a consultant to the World Health Organisation who originally started her infection prevention career in Oxford in the UK. We hear how Julie was motivated by patient stories of isolation and virtual imprisonment in elderly care settings to try and bring compassion into play, supported by sound infection prevention principles. Here are links to some of the outputs from Julie's work to date.
The open letter in Nursing Times: Infection prevention and control should never be at the expense of compassionate care https://www.nursingtimes.net/opinion/open-letter-infection-prevention-and-control-should-never-be-at-the-expense-of-compassionate-care-16-10-2020/
AJIC letter: Storr J, Kilpatrick C, Vassallo A. Safe infection prevention and control practices with compassion - A positive legacy of COVID-19. Am J Infect Control. 2021;49(3):407-408. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2020.12.016 https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ceIEijjYWgI7
BMJ Opinion piece: Enforced restrictions to care home access—unfair, unnecessary, and harmful https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/07/15/enforced-restrictions-to-care-home-access-unfair-unnecessary-and-harmful/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=hootsuite&utm_content=sme&utm_campaign=usage
Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes a Difference https://www.compassionomics.com/
WHO (‎2016)‎ Guidance for managing ethical issues in infectious disease outbreaks. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/250580
Compassion Rounds: The Taskforce for Global Health - Focus Area for Compassion and Ethics https://taskforce.org/face/#:~:text=The%20Focus%20Area%20for%20Compassion,to%2Dday%20decision%2Dmaking .
Resources for care homes developed with campaigning group Care Home Relatives Scotland: www.enablesafecare.org   
Webber telecasts 9 March 2021: Reimagining Infection Prevention With Compassion - A Positive Legacy of COVID-19? https://webbertraining.com/recordingslibraryc4.php 

COVID-19 - Your Questions Answered

In this Q&A style podcast, listeners to our podcast were offered the opportunity to pose COVID-19 related questions to a panel. Our panel included Prof Kirsty Buising, Liz Orr and A/Prof Caroline Marshall. All three panelists have been involved in the COVID-19 response in their organisations.
A range of topics were discussed, including aerosol-generating behaviours, ventilation, PPE, vaccination, cleaning and visitors.

Infusion set replacement intervals, 4 days Vs 7 days with Prof Claire Rickard

In this episode we discuss a paper published in the Lancet which compares the effectiveness and costs of 7-day versus 4-day infusion set replacement to prevent CRBSI with lead author Professor Claire Rickard. Professor Rickard is a Professor of Infection Prevention & Vascular Access at the University of Queensland. Claire established the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR) in 2007 as an investigator network to promote high quality work in the field of vascular access.
Link to the publication: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00351-2/fulltext

Assessing preventability of Staph aureus bacteraemia with Daniela Karanfilovska

In this week's episode, Prof Brett Mitchell talks to Daniela Karanfilovska. Daniela is an infection prevention nurse at Alfred Health in Melbourne. She led a paper published recently in the Journal of Hospital Infection in which a Delphi method was used to create an assessment tool that can be used to assess the preventability of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus. The tools also outlines potential action. The paper can be found here https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(21)00223-1/fulltext.
The Delphi technique uses a repeated survey approach where the opinions of experts can be used to refine and develop a consensus as to elements that should form part of the tool under development. Other papers that have used this method or a modified version include:
Williams, C. K. and H. Carnahan (2013). "Development and validation of tools for assessing use of personal protective equipment in health care." Am J Infect Control 41(1): 28-32.
O'Boyle, C., M. Jackson and S. J. Henly (2002). "Staffing requirements for infection control programs in US health care facilities: Delphi project." Am J Infect Control 30(6): 321-333.
Lynch, P., M. Jackson and S. Saint (2001). "Research Priorities Project, year 2000: establishing a direction for infection control and hospital epidemiology." Am J Infect Control 29(2): 73-78.
Meddings, J., S. Saint, K. E. Fowler, E. Gaies, A. Hickner, S. L. Krein and S. J. Bernstein (2015). "The Ann Arbor Criteria for Appropriate Urinary Catheter Use in Hospitalized Medical Patients: Results Obtained by Using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method." Ann Intern Med 162(9 Suppl): S1-34.

Something in the air? With Dr Kirsty Buising

This week, Brett Mitchell and Martin Kiernan are joined by Dr Kirsty Buising, infectious diseases physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital who is also Deputy Director of the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship and chief investigator for the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded Centre for Research Excellence in Antimicrobial Stewardship in the Doherty Institute at Melbourne University. Together they discuss a paper just published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology in which small, domestic-level HEPA filtration devices were used to rapidly remove glycerine-based aerosol, used as a surrogate for respiratory viruses, from rooms and corridors in a hospital setting.This was an excellent example of a multi-disciplinary highly specialist team who drew on each other's strengths to work a a problem.
The full paper is here https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.26.21256152v1.abstract and two preprints from the work can be found here https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.29.21254590v1.abstract and here https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.26.21256152v1.abstract