News & Updates

Scientists have identified two genes that are switched on only when a child is suffering from a bacterial infection. This could allow doctors to quickly distinguish between a viral or bacterial illnes…

A new study shows how viruses on hospital floors are rapidly spread to the hands of patients and hand contact surfaces both inside and outside the room.  Although the risks in a household  s…

Bacteria are everywhere, including in the human body where it plays an important role in our health. Your bacterial ecosystem, referred to as your microbiota helps protect us from infections. In an ar…

News Medical this week features an “opinion leader” interview with Professor Sally Bloomfield. The full interview can be found at http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160811/Hygiene-hypothes…

A new study suggests that clothing and linens are an under recognised vector for transmission of MRSA from a person who is infected or is an MRSA carrierThe study examined a hospital laundry facility …

A key source of infectious and other microbes in any occupied place the people living or working there. A new study demonstrates that humans emit a microbial cloud into surrounding indoor air.The micr…

A report from MRSA Action UK, shows the importance of preventing spread of MSSA and MRSA in the home and in everyday life, not just in relation to healthcare.  http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-f…

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal levels. In people who have diabetes, the pancreas either doesn’t make enough insulin (a hormone that helps glucose ge…

The July issue of Perspectives in Public Health looks at latest research showing that the hygiene hypothesis is a misleading and dangerous misnomer which is both undermining attitudes to hygiene and h…

A new study shows that improved hand hygiene in the workplace, significantly reduced health care claims for hand hygiene preventable infections (eg, cold and influenza). Furthermore, implementation si…

A new paper reviews studies of the role of gut microbiota in allergic diseases and asthma.  The data provides further evidence that a disturbed gut microbiota is associated with increased risk of…

A new report based on a colloquium in 2015, gives a very useful – and broad - overview of how microbes in the built environment affect human health - both in causing disease (infections, allergi…

 Preventing infections again hit the headlines this week with the latest report on antibiotic resistance, highlighting that infection prevention - both in hospital and home and everyday life - is…

When it comes to researching hand hygiene, the major focus is always on measuring reduction in infections rates, but surely, before doing this costly exercise, we should be doing more to ensure that t…

May 5 is the World Health Organization's World Hand Hygiene Day.  Hand hygiene (washing with soap and water or using hand sanitizer) is the most effective way to prevent the spread of infecti…

People often think it is the last thing they ate that caused them to have food poisoning, but rarely consider that it may actually not have been the food they ate, but the food they prepared! Professo…