The European Tissue Symposium (ETS) has confirmed its presence at the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) 2018.
The annual conference, which takes place at the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC), Liverpool from 26-28 November, gathers infection prevention and control experts to share experience and best practice.
In addition to their booth at Stand 40 in the BT Convention Centre, ETS will also host a Symposium slot in Room A from 17.00 - 18.00 on Tuesday 27 November featuring Professor Mark Wilcox, Professor of Medical Microbiology, University of Leeds, Consultant/Head of Microbiology Research & Development, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
In his presentation ‘Using the correct hand drying method – does it really matter in infection control?’, Prof. Wilcox will share the results of his latest study measuring the prevalence of environmental contamination – including by antibiotic resistant bacteria – in toilets according to hand-drying method.
The multi-site study (you can read it here), designed by Prof. Wilcox and his team and carried out at hospitals in France, Italy and the UK, found that options for hand-drying in public toilets are associated with clearly differing potential for environmental bacterial contamination.
Higher levels of contamination were found in toilets using jet air dryers compared with those using paper towels, with multiple examples of significant differences in the extent of surface bacterial contamination, including by faecal associated (enterococci and enterobacteria) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (MRSA and ESBL-producing bacteria).
ETS chairman, Fanis Papakostas, commented: “Laboratory and in situ studies have demonstrated that some hand-drying methods are associated with a greater risk of dissemination of residual microbes from hands after (particularly suboptimal) handwashing. This latest research shows that hand-drying method can affect the risk of (airborne) dissemination of bacteria in real world settings.”
The findings have significant implications for hygiene in hospital toilets frequented by staff, patients and the general public and suggest that jet air dryers may not be suitable for such settings were the risk of microbial cross-contamination is high.
