Good research often falls victim to misinterpretation or distortion: This shows a recently published article (September 2018, Didier Pittet et al.) in The Lancet . The authors cite a series of articles (The Guardian, Reuters et al.) which misinterpret a recently published study in Science (Aug, 2018, Sacha J. Pidot et al.). How could that happen? […]
Germs with resistance to important antibiotics of last resort are detected in a growing number of hospital patients in Germany. This shows the data from a report of the National Reference Center for Gram-negative Pathogens (NRZ) of the Ruhr-University Bochum, recently published by the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. We interviewed Dr. Niels Pfennigwerth about […]
The Infection Prevention Community on Social Media is less communicative at the moment. No wonder, many people are on holiday. One might gain the impression that the problem of healthcare associated infections is not so relevant. But of course – but it just seems to be that way. The germs are not on holiday – […]
It is expected that the Global Hospital-acquired Infections Market will advance with higher growth rate in the coming years as compared to previous years (CAGR of 7,3% till 2022). This is in brief the conclusion of a recently published research report. Honestly, the term HAI Marked leaves a bitter aftertaste. It demonstrates the interests and […]
According to a review, published online February 8 in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, patient involvement may promote hand washing in the hospital. We interviewed author Mamdooh Alzyood (Doctoral Researcher, Oxford Brookes University), who gave us also some personal thoughts about Semmelweis at the end of the interview. Mr. Alzyood, I was astonished to read […]
Octapeptin was discovered in the late 1970s but were not selected for development at the time. Now researchers synthesized the antibiotic. In the occasion of the recently published study we interviewed Prof. Matt Cooper, Director of the IMB’s Centre for Superbug Solutions. In the face of increasing antimicrobial resistance it has become clear that new […]
A team of researchers, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) tries to find out whether an unusual type of bacteria that eats other bacteria could be a new weapon in the fight against drug-resistant infections (investigated in the course of the Pathogen Predators Program). We interviewed Prof. Liz Sockett from the Nottingham […]
The increased use of the disaccharide trehalose could have promoted the spread of the virulent Clostridium difficile (CD) strains RT027 and RT078. This has shown a recently published study. An interview with study author Dr James Collins (Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Houston, Texas) Mr. Collins, What gave you the […]
Comparing AMR surveillance programs from livestock and human health in Europe. That was the objective of a recently published review. We interviewed author Dr Remco Schrijver. One of the tables of the review (table 3) shows that no information could be retrieved from Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia (reporting of national antimicrobial testing in […]
Breaking the transmission chain: This was the aim of the scientists, who have developed a novel weapon in the battle against hospital-acquired infections: a textile (designed to be used on hospital doors) that disinfects itself. A study into the effectiveness of the new technology has just been published in the Journal of Hospital Infection (Oct, […]