UK news on infection control issues, and UVGI solutions for hospital and community infection management http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/feed.rss 19 August 2010 - Hospitals in London and Nottingham have treated patients infected with new superbugs, which are resistant to the most powerful 'last resort' antibiotics. Patients returning from the Indian subcontinent carried the carbepenem-resistant strains to the UK. NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamose) is a resistance-giving enzyme, easily transferable to other species. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#ndm1 24 March 2010 - A compound which might be developed into a new drug to treat tuberculosis (TB) has been discovered by a UK team of researchers, the first breakthrough for Tuberculosis Drug Discovery UK (TBD-UK), a consortium led by the University of Strathclyde. Developed from an antibiotic, the compound will have to undergo further tests before it can be developed into a drug which can be tested on humans. Estimates for when it might be ready for general use vary, but it could be up to 10 years. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#newtb 18 December 2009 - Norfolk's ambulance service has been given a clean bill of health by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after it was criticised for its dirty vehicles. CQC's report ordered improvements to prevent healthcare-associated infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile. In addition to training staff to do physical cleaning properly, they could have made more sure of a sterile environment by fitting IML in-ambulance UVGI units for decontamination. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#ambulance 24 November 2009 - According to a study in the December issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a potentially dangerous and rapidly spreading strain of MRSA (Community-associated MRSA or CA-MRSA) poses a much greater public health threat than was previously thought, new research shows. The CA-MRSA strain of superbug can be picked up in fitness centres, schools, and other public places, and is increasing the already significant burden of HA-MRSA (hospital-associated MRSA) now it is spreading to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#camrsa 24 November 2009 - Canadian researchers have demonstrated that only a few minor mutations to the DNA of a superbug allow it to adapt rapidly to changes in its environment - and that includes, of course, antibiotics. Evolution is commonly imagined to take millions of years, but the research shows it can be a matter of months or years. Read the full article here. IML's range of UVGI equipment is therefore bad news for superbugs, because the disruptive power of ultraviolent light, acting directly on DNA, cannot be resisted. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#evolve 12th October 2009 - Researchers presented the HD-01 mobile room disinfactor as 'a novel, automated, efficient environmental disinfection technology that significantly reduces C. difficile, VRE and MRSA contamination'. The 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) heard that researchers used the device to decontaminate hospital rooms at the Cleveland Veterans' Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Ohio and analysed its ability to remove troublesome bacteria, including C. difficile spores. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#icaac 8th October 2009 - The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has released a document entitled Airborne Infectious Diseases, which notes "Airborne infectious disease transmission can be reduced using dilution ventilation, specific in-room flow regimes, room pressure differentials, personalized and source capture ventilation, filtration and UVGI." ASHRAE believes that engineers play a key role in reducing disease transmission in buildings, and recommends that high-priority research into UVGI should continue. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#ashrae 25th September 2009 - a short video showing the sterilisation of an operating theatre in a Los Angeles hospital has been made available. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#video 28th August 2009 - The Sunday Herald reports that a hospital decontamination unit could lose quality assurance accreditation without hiring more specialist engineers to service the equipment. National Services Scotland (NSS) was recently told that the lack of authorised decontamination engineers could be a threat to patient safety. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/index.asp#engin 12th August 2009 - New strains of bacteria, mostly originating in surgical patients coming from the Indian subcontinent, can cause wound infections, septicaemia, pneumonia and gastroenteritis. They are posing real problems for the NHS, because they are proving resistant to antibiotics (including carbapenems) that are reserved to tackle the most resistant infections. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#entero 13 July 2009 - The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently published a presentation that discusses how to minimise flu trnasmission in public buildings like schools, and includes several recommendations on using UVGI in HVAC systems. With the increasing numbers of infection here in the UK, our in-duct UVGI disinfection units for air conditioning systems could well be of great interest. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#pigs3 11 June 200 - The NHS in England is neglecting the threat from many healthcare-acquired infections (HCAIs) not covered by government targets, the National Audit Office has warned. Although efforts to tackle MRSA and Clostridium difficile have mostly been a success, only approximately 15% of HCAIs involve these organisms. IML's UVGI systems ignore government targets, disinfecting the vast majority of pathogens, whether airborne or lurking on poorly-cleaned surfaces. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#targets 9 June 2009 - In an update on a story published on this web site last year, Natural News reports on the efficiency of UVGI in reducing tuberculosis transmission in hospitals. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#tb3 9 June 2009 - Susan Brimelow will spearhead a programme of random hospital checks across Scotland as the new chief inspector of the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#brimelow 26 May 2009 - A currently rare, and potentially fatal, new superbug that can kill within 48 hours is on the rise in Birmingham hospitals. Experts warn that Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) could be the next superbug to test the NHS, in the wake of MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C.diff). IML's range of surface and in-room UVGI fixtures could be a potent weapon to stop PVL getting a foothold in all our hospitals and schools. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#pvl 23 May 2009 - Japan is now worst-hit outside North America in the global epidemic. Confirmed cases of H1N1 flu have topped 280, centring on Kobe and the neighbouring Osaka. More than 4,800 schools have been closed in the region, medical services are swamped, and testing laboratories are working around the clock.. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#pigs2 5 May 2009 - Airborne respiratory diseases - of which "swine flu" (H1N1) is a prime example - have long been controlled by the use of ultraviolet lamps in the Americas - from as long ago as 1955! So it could be time to have another more serious look at the technology this side of the Atlantic. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#pigs 23 April 2009 - The European Parliament adopted a report backing measures designed to reduce the millions of infections picked up by patients in hospitals each year. The recruitment of specialised nurses, better education, support for research and better information for patients are among the measures proposed. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#eureport 17 April 2009 - The Nursing Times reports that GBP5.4 million is to be spent on employing hundreds of new cleaners as part of a drive to improve hospital infection control. Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce that the cash will go towards helping health boards hire 603 cleaning staff - a move hailed as a positive boost for jobs in the current economic downturn. Of course, new jobs are good news - but surely some of the money would be better spent on using more effective cleaning protocols? As we report elsewhere, studies show that cleaning alone doesn't do the job, however many are employed to do it. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#scot 16 April 2009 - Channel 4 News used the Freedom of Information Act to show that GBP12 million was paid to people claiming compensation from the NHS for injury involving superbugs such as MRSA. That is GBP12 million that could otherwise have been spent on measures to combat the infection ion the first place - so a double waste of money, which would have gone a long way to equipping hospitals with highly effective UVGI disinfection equipment. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#c4news 3rd April 2009 - The BBC's Today programme on Radio 4 reports on the first actions of the Care Quality Commission, which was only created this week following the merger of three existing bodies. It has made infection control one of its first priorities. The Commission has identified 21 trusts in England that are not up to scratch with their cleanliness and decontamination protocols, although overall infection rates are falling. The regulator stated that if this group did not improve, trusts would face measures including fines and the possible closure of affected services. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#hccom 19 March 2009 - Health minister Ann Keen said "Emerging technologies can play an important role in the reduction of MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections such as C. difficile. She notes that while hard work still forms the basis for reducing infections, new technology can "get things done differently, more swiftly or more reliably". Something we have been telling the world for a while now! http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#tech 18 March 2009 - TB study results published in PLoS Medicine as a research article, which references several other articles on the use of UVGI in preventing infection. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#tb2 9 March 2009 - Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has announced that she will be appointing a chief inspector of hospital hygiene, to lead the new Care Environment Inspectorate. The so-called "superbug tsar" will need wide powers to tackle the ever-present menace of hospital-acquired infections in Scotland, despite a number of recent initiatives to tackle the problem. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#tsar 8 March 2009 - The Observer reports yet another possible source of infection in hospitals. In January it was mobile phones - now it's the knitted clothing and blankets made by volunteers for tiny premature babies. The neonatal unit at the Royal Blackburn Hospital in Lancashire has suffered from outbreaks last year and in 2007, and has now banned the home-made clothes. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#knit 4 March 2009 - Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA, today revealed that trials are ongoing to cut infections using Lumalier's UVGI room sterilisation equipment (supplied in the UK and Europe by IML). http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#mercy 16 February 2009 - The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that researchers, having reviewed the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and its impact, note that enhanced monitoring and infection prevention control measures may help limit the increase of antibiotic resistance in Canada. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#cmaj 13 February 2009 - St George's Healthcare NHS Trust has taken the unusual step of publishing its MRSA and C. diff infection figures online for everyone to see. The hospital, which has the lowest MRSA rate of any teaching hospital in London, is well-known for its proactive stance on infection control. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#george 9 February 2009 - although hospitals in Eire have reported a fall in MRSA infections, a new superbug called MSSA (methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus) is on the rise, with a 13% increase in cases from 2006 to the end of 2008. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#mssa 25 January 2009 - Phil Hope, a Government minister in the Department of Health, has sadly come to understand the problems of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) after his own father died from complications of MRSA contracted during a hip operation. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#philhope 16th January 2009 - Microbiologists from Harvard University have discovered a strain of the Pseudomonas soil bacterium that can survive and grow on a range of natural and synthetic antibiotics, including those frequently used for childhood illnesses. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#lunch 7th January 2009 - Recent research at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, has shown that mobiles used by clinical staff carry a healthy population of bacteria, some of which may contribute to the spread of HAIs. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#phones 24th December 2008 - Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson started his vice-presidency of the Patients' Association in typically assertive fashion, by calling attention to "horrific" MRSA infection rates in NHS hospitals, and calling for NHS staff to be screened for the infection. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#branson 7th December 2008 - The Healthcare Commission is to start monitoring hospitals in England for unusually high rates of death, infection or poor outcomes from operations, using both official data and intelligence gathered from NHS whistleblowers and patient complaints. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#whistle 27th November 2008- Chuck Dunn, the MD of our manufacturer has interesting feedback from the numerous demonstrations he makes of the HD-01 mobile room/surface disinfection unit, including its use for disinfecting hard-to-clean laundry rooms and unwieldy items like wheelchairs, IV poles and trolleys. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#versatile 24th November 2008 - Spot checks carried out by the Healthcare Commission on 51 trusts found that only five complied with the infection control rules set down by the Government. Although most failures were not expected to threaten patient safety, almost all acute facilities were recommended to do more to control hospital infections. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#spotcheck 24 October 2008 - The Daily Mail reports that two babies have died after what is believed to be the first known outbreak of an antibiotic-resistant (ESBL) strain of E. coli at a hospital. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#lutondunstable 17 October 2008 - the Royal College of Surgeons draws attention to the danger of contracting HAIs in overcrowded surgical wards, and casts doubt on whether the effectiveness of stringent hand-washing policies is supported by evidence. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#overcrowding 4 October 2008 - A recent Healthcare Commission spot-check carried out in June discovered numerous breaches of the Government's hygiene code at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#derriford 16 September 2008 - there's a growing rate of community infection with PVL-MRSA - a variant of MRSA that produces a toxin (Panton Valentine leukocidin) which destroys white blood cells. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#pvlmrsa 10 September 2008 - Dr. Jeffery Deal originally patented the TRU-D room disinfection unit in response to the serious rates of HAIs in the USA - discover the figures behind the story. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#lumalierpr 8 September 2008 - Alan Johnson's view of the "remarkable achievement" in reaching hospital infection reduction targets was not shared by either Derek Butler (Chair MRSA Action UK) or Hugh Pennington (Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at Aberdeen University). http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive#statsquestioned 1 September 2008 - Dr Rod Escombe, of Imperial College London, has recently published the results of his study showing how UV units reduce airborne TB in Peruvian hospital wards. http://infectionmanagementltd.co.uk/news/news-archive.asp#uvgitb