Month: August 2016

Simon Burrell 1, Ann Bull 1, Michael Richards 1, Leon Worth 1 1 Vicniss Coordinating Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia   Introduction: Effective healthcare infection prevention strategies rely upon the collection, analysis and reporting of valid and robust data. To appropriately engage stakeholders, data must also be interpretable and available in a timely...

Lucy Hughson 1, Annie Wells 1, Fiona Wilson 1 1 Public Health Services, DHHS, Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia   Introduction: Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used to protect healthcare workers (HCWs) and patients from healthcare associated infections. Protection afforded by PPE relies on the application and removal techniques. Outbreaks of infectious diseases...

Joanne Baigent 1 1 CNS – Infection Prevention and Control, Counties Manukau Health, Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand   Introduction Additional to positive attitude and behaviour, successful Infection Prevention and Control (IP and C) practice requires knowledge and skills. In a healthcare setting dependent on electronic records and...

Leon Worth 1 1 Infectious Diseases Physician, VICNISS Coordinating Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia   Background: Clostridium difficile poses a substantial and increasing healthcare burden internationally, and there is therefore a need for monitoring of infections in Australia. The objective of this study was to evaluate time...

Jessica Iliffe 1 1 Infection Prevention Nurse Consultant, The Alfred, Prahran, VIC, Australia   Introduction: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and vanA strains of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE vanA) have recently emerged in some Australian healthcare facilities. The antimicrobial susceptibility of these multi-resistant organisms (MROs) means that treatment options...

Annie Wells 1, Lucy Hughson 2, Fiona Wilson 1 1 Public Health Service, DHHS Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia   Introduction: Responding to the threat of antimicrobial resistance: Australia’s First National Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy (FNARS) 2015-2019 was published in June 2015. The strategy is a OneHealth approach outlining seven objectives to minimise...

Nantanit Sutthiruk 1, Mari Botti 1,2, Julie Considine 1,3, Andrea Driscoll 1,4, Ana Hutchinson 1,2, Kamthorn Malathum 5 1 Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia 2 Epworth HealthCare, Melbourne, VIC, Australia 3 Eastern Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia 4 Austin Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia 5 Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand   Introduction A multidisciplinary approach is considered best practice in AMS. Effective hospital-wide AMS programs need multidisciplinary engagement...

Carol Rosevear 1, David Walters, Alicia Neels, Linda Dreyer 1 SWABS, Geelong, VIC, Australia   In 2012 a group of ” volunteers” agreed to form a regional AMS group to collect and review antibiotic prescribing in Victorian regional and rural hospital. Many small facilities do not have the resources to...

  The importance of infection control in clinical dental practice simply cannot be understated. The Dental Board of Australia’s Guidelines for infection control state that ‘Dental practitioners must practise in a way that maintains and enhances public health and safety...

S.Borrell RN, CICP-E1, 1 Alfred Health, 55 Commercial Rd Prahran Vic, 3004, S.Borrell@alfred.org.au   Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most commonly genetically acquired, life-shortening chronic illness affecting young Australians. The average lifespan of people with CF is increasing with improved...