Rapid diagnostic tests for superbugs

Researchers of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology develop rapid and cost-effective options for diagnosing life-threatening infectious diseases. An interview with Dr. Ivan Barisic, scientist at the AIT Health & Environment Department Vienna. With the new tests patients remain spared from unnecessary or ineffective treatments. What treatment is meant here? Could you give an example? […]

ICPIC 2015: A conference with touching moments

„The need to share knowledge and experience remains unchanged“ said ICPIC chairman Prof. Didier Pittet at the third ICPIC conference in Geneva on June 16-19. In fact, there were a lot of possibilities to share knowledge – almost 1000 attendees and over 100 speakers from 74 countries discussed all possible aspects on Prevention and Infection […]

Prof. Willem van Scheik

“We study the reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes that is harbored by the gut microbiota”

To increase our collective understanding of the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance in human pathogens: This is the overall purpose of EvoTAR (Evolution and Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance), which will organize a International Conference (ICETAR2015) on this item in June (24-26). With Prof. Willem van Scheik (Department of Medical Microbiology, University Utrecht) spoke Carola […]

Second PPS by ECDC (2016-2017): What can we expect?

ECDC is organising a second point prevalence survey (PPS) of HAI and antimicrobial use in acute care hospitals. With Carl Suetens, Senior Expert Healthcare-associated infections at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control spoke Carola Timmel. On May 5 you mentioned (at the symposium on the International day of Hand Hygiene in the Austrian […]

Why are 162 deaths less interesting than 2.400 deaths?

162 deaths between 1 January and 31 May 2015 – this was communicating the Federal Ministry of the Interior today (1 June) via Austria Press Agency (APA). Without a doubt: 162 deaths are too much. But why nobody is shocked by the 2.400 people who die each year in Austria due to nosocomial infections? Like […]