Infection control seminar 'a hit'

Invited audience of infection control and microbiology professionals from all over the UK heard the latest thinking on infection control matters and had the opportunity to network

"By far the most informative infection control conference that I have attended" was a comment from one delegate at the Oxoid infection control seminar that was held recently in Stratford-on-Avon, UK.

During the seminar, an invited audience of infection control and microbiology professionals from all over the UK heard the latest thinking on infection control matters and had the opportunity to network with the seminar speakers and colleagues from other hospitals.

During the morning Trevor Winstanley, clinical scientist at Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield spoke about the importance of antimicrobial resistance in terms of clinical failure, cost and the decline in the effectiveness of antimicrobials.

He concluded that with few prospects for new classes of antibiotics on the horizon, we have to evaluate other treatment options.

The next presentation covered one such option - the use of bacteriophages - this was given by Geoff Hanlon, professor of pharmaceutical microbiology at the University of Brighton.

He explained that bacteriophages (viruses that only kill bacteria) are highly specific with each phage only attacking one species of bacteria.

He went on to describe how phage therapy works, why they are effective even against antibiotic resistant bacteria, how phages are cheap and easy to produce, their successful use in some countries, and how many biopharmaceutical companies worldwide are now involved in work on phage therapy.

Robert Spencer, chairman of the Hospital Infection Society, brought the morning session to a close with a talk on the infection control aspects of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) release agents and the role of the infection control team in their detection and decontamination.

After lunch, Ian Poxton, head of medical microbiology, University Medical School, Edinburgh, gave a presentation on Clostridium difficile (which is the most common cause of hospital-acquired diarrhoea and can lead to life-threatening pseudomembranous colitis).

Poxton reported on the worldwide increase in C difficile infection, how it is caused, and what laboratories are currently doing to diagnose this infection (which is thought to be more of a problem in many hospitals than MRSA).

Judy Potter, vice chair of the Infection Control Nurses Association, then spoke about the role of the patient in infection control.

She described how changes in accessibility to disease information (such as through the internet, support groups and discussion forums), treatment methods and surgical practices (eg, day surgery), and patient education by infection control professionals all play a part in the prevention and control of infection.

The experiences of the infection control team at University Hospital, Lewisham were then shared with the audience by its lead nurse in infection control, Annette Jeanes.

University Hospital Lewisham was runner up in the 2003/2004 Oxoid Infection Control Team of the Year Awards; Jeanes described the challenges and current issues faced at Lewisham and some of the highly innovative ways in which they provide infection control education.

The seminar was accredited with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points by the Institute of Biomedical Scientists, the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Nursing.

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