News & Updates

A key strategy being used to tackle the global problem of antibiotic resistance is the control of antibiotic prescribing. If, as now seems likely, antibiotic overprescribing is also a causative factor…

Food safety experts say that freezing chickens could significantly reduce the chances of people catching the food poisoning bug campylobacter. In UK the number of reported cases of campylobacter infec…

A single 10-second kiss can transfer as many as 80 million bacteria, according to Dutch scientists. They monitored the kissing behaviour of 21 couples and found those who kissed nine times a day were …

A study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, Oct 17th, describes learnings about the mode of transmission of Ebola in a Liberian hospital.In July 2014, The US Centers for Disease Control assisted the Mi…

Ebola is a serious and potentially fatal disease. Because of this, many people are concerned about the current outbreak, despite the fact that in places like the US, Europe etc, contracting Ebola is v…

A new European study suggests frequent inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in the treatment of mostly viral respiratory infections.The study, carried out in UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and German…

This online article features an interesting new approach to sustainable laundering. The new formulation contains about 1.5 million small, white nylon beads which are added to the machine wash load. Th…

Increasingly there is demand for data which directly quantifies the impact of hygiene interventions on infection rates.  In the domestic setting, where infection transmission involves a complex w…

The world's first "interactive microbe zoo" opened in Amsterdam on Tues 7th Oct. The generally held view about the invisible micro-world is a negative one. There is a serious knowledge g…

One of the key strategies for tackling AR, alongside antibiotic stewardship and developing new antimicrobials, is greater emphasis on improving infection prevention and control practices to prevent sp…

CDC has produced materials that are designed to help audiences understand the importance of using antibiotics correctly in community and outpatient settings, the health threat of antibiotic resistance…

In recognition of the importance of infection prevention and the role consumers can play to stay safe when they visit a healthcare facility, IFH has partnered with APIC to promote International Infect…

This article in the Wall St Journal is an interesting example of the misleading discussion between too much and too little exposure to microbes. The real question to answer is "how do we reengage…

A study by Jack Gilbert and his team shows how new techniques are helping us understand how microbes (both harmful and non harmful) move around our homes and how we interact with them.  This is i…

A UK YouGov survey of people’s habits shows that only one third say they change sheets once a week, whilst 37% of 18-24 year-olds change sheets just once a month, and only 16% were weekly w…

Organised by WSSCC, a November 2013 meeting brought together key partners from Plan International, WaterAid, UNICEF, etc.  The meeting considered what water, sanitation and hygiene, or WASH-relat…