Healthcare Infection Transmission Systems (HITS) Conference Summary

It’s the second time I’ve had the pleasure to speak at Healthcare Infection Transmission Systems (HITS) conference. The conference launched in 2017 and since then, provides an excellent platform for industry and academia to exchange knowledge, ideas and expertise. As always, there was a lot of excellent presentations and thought- provoking debates. The main areas…

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Microfibre and water isn’t magical

There’s a word on the street that microfibre combined with water is suitable for all cleaning challenges. But a study from Prof Jean-Yves Maillard’s lab in Cardiff suggests that water and microfibre alone achieves only a moderate removal of bacteria from surfaces and readily transfers bacteria between surfaces. Adding disinfectants to microfibre enhances their efficacy considerably. The…

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UV room disinfection system face-off

An important new US study has performed an epic head-to-head evaluation of 8 different UV-based room disinfection systems. Whilst there were some differences between the UVC-based systems, there was a stark difference between the efficacy of the 7 UVC systems and the one pulsed-xenon UV (PX-UV) system, with the PX-UV proving considerably less effective. UV systems are…

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Clinell Dispensers endorsed by IPS Industry Insights!

We are proud to have our Clinell Wipe Dispensers chosen to be featured by Industry Insights! This initiative, led by The Infection Prevention Society, aims to bring light to products or technologies which are truly effective in reducing the risk of infection. After an extensive review from highly experienced IPS members, the Clinell Dispenser Range…

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Arguing for routine disinfection of the healthcare environment

A new review in the Journal of Infection Prevention by Dr Evonne Curran and colleagues sets out the arguments for and against the routine use of disinfectants in the healthcare environment. The review dispels some of the common arguments used against the routine use of disinfectants in the healthcare environment, and presents a novel risk-based…

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The risk of keyboard contamination

Computer keyboards are a potential contamination risk in the hospital setting. A new systematic review of the literature concludes that computer keyboards are frequently contaminated and that more studies are required to understand the risk they pose and effective and practical methods to prevent and reduce contamination.  Computer equipment in hospital settings, such as keyboards, mice, and…

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Reducing HCAI through improved training and education

A new randomised controlled intervention study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases by Professor Brett Mitchell and a group of Australia researchers reports that introducing an environmental cleaning bundle reduced the rate of HCAI. A new randomised controlled intervention study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases by Professor Brett Mitchell and a group of Australia researchers reports…

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Four steps to clean hospitals

Drs Stephanie Dancer and Alex Kramer, two of the biggest names in hospital cleaning and disinfection, have joined forces to write a review in the Journal of Hospital Infection, setting out four steps to clean hospitals. First LOOK, then PLAN, next CLEAN, and finally DRY. The authors identified a gap in the literature: no articles offer a…

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New insights into C. difficile transmission

A review paper published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection discusses current trends in our understanding of C. difficile transmission. How much C. difficile infection we see is as a result of transmission within hospitals. How much is explained by acquisition of C. difficile prior to hospitalisation? Evidence is emerging and difficult to interpret, but it seems that more C. difficile infection that we once thought…

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