Each year on 5 May, the “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands” campaign takes place as part of a major global effort led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve hand hygiene in healthcare settings.
On 28 January, Public Health England (PHE) launched a new multilingual survey, funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which aims to gain an understanding of European healthcare workers’ knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.
On European Antibiotic Awareness Day, ECDC publishes the results of two point-prevalence surveys of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in hospitals and in long-term care facilities in the EU/EEA.
Thirteen patients with OXA-48-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae ST392 have been reported by Sweden and Norway between January and April 2018 - all returning travellers with prior hospital admission in Gran Canaria. Whole genome sequencing showed tight clustering between the bacterial isolates from the cases.
The rise in Europe of Candida auris infections, a difficult-to-control fungus, is of concern. The fungus spreads easily in healthcare settings, can cause invasive infections, and is also associated with resistance to multiple classes of anti-fungal medication.
Bacteria from humans and animals continue to show resistance to antimicrobials, according to a new report published today by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The report highlights some emerging issues and confirms antimicrobial resistance as one of the biggest threats to public health. AMR reduces the effectiveness of treatment options.
Antibiotic resistance is a threat to public health. It compromises the treatment of infected patients, in particular that of the most severely ill patients. Increasingly, intensive care physicians in Europe are confronted with infections caused by bacteria for which limited or no adequate treatment options are available.
Today, the World Health Organization publishes its Global Guidelines for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infections, which include a list of recommendations prepared by top leading experts and based on a review of the latest evidence in the area.
On 21 May, Public Health England (PHE) reported that a retrospective investigation identified 13 patients with endocarditis, surgical site infection or disseminated infection with Mycobacterium chimaera or other Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) species within four years of surgery involving cardiopulmorary bypass.
The latest ECDC mosquito maps show new information about the geographical distribution of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, invasive mosquitoes which can transmit diseases such as dengue and Zika, in Europe.