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8th International BODE
Hygiene Days in Tallinn
At the invitation of BODE Chemie, leading international experts in hygiene participated in the 8th International Hygiene Days, which took place in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, from June 14 – 17. The focus: New global strategies for the infection prevention and quality assurance. For the eighth time, BODE succeeded in initiating a unique discussion platform with international opinion leaders in hygiene and infection prevention.
Almost 200 participants from 26 different countries came to the three-day congress in Tallinn to discuss new international concepts for the prevention of nosocomial infections. The 16 speeches were divided into four sessions, e.g. on the effectiveness of hygiene strategies, the systematic surveillance of infections and the importance of high quality standards, and summed up the current international focus topics of hygiene and infection prevention.
Quality of hand hygiene
Infections resulting from surgical procedures belong to the frequent complications that occur in clinics and outpatient surgical units. Surgical hand disinfection is an important pre-operative prevention measure and took center stage in the first session “Surgical hand disinfection – state-of-the-art”. New scientific studies on the product efficacy in accordance with U.S. and European test methods were presented. Prof. Axel Kramer, Chairman of the German Association for Hospital Hygiene, explained the new recommendation of the Robert Koch-Institute, which stipulates that hands should only be washed at the beginning of the shift and if hands are visibly soiled – aside from this alcohol-based hand disinfectants should be used. A recommendation that also meets the new WHO guideline on hand hygiene as Prof. Andreas F. Widmer, Head of Infection Control, University Hospitals Basel, Switzerland, reported in the session on “Quality standards in hand hygiene”.
Systematic surveillance of infections
Another session dealt with “Quality assurance in hospital hygiene”. The speakers – Prof. John M. Boyce, Chief of Section of Infectious Diseases, Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven, USA; Prof. Petra Gastmeier from the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Hannover Medical School, Germany; and Dr. Anne Simon, Department of Hospital Epidemiology at the Saint-Luc University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium; and others – reflected both the congress’ internationality and the global struggle with a better infection prevention. The session focused on the quality of surveillance programs and their potential to reduce nosocomial infections. Prof. Gastmeier, for example, reported that the implementation of a MRSA-specific KISS (Krankenhaus-Infektions-Surveillance-System / Hospital Infection Surveillance System) module has contributed to the reduction of MRSA rates. Further infection-specific modules are under way.
Spectrum of microorganisms of endoscopes
“Medical devices and their reprocessing” was the topic of the last session. Dr. Adam Fraise, Director Hospital Infection Research Laboratory in the City Hospital in Birmingham, UK, spoke about the necessity of standardized activity tests based on the European standards for the reprocessing of medical devices. Prof. Heike Martiny, Director Technical Hygiene at Charité in Berlin, Germany, studied the microbial burden that colonoscopes actually have and drew conclusions on the spectrum of activity that disinfectants require. The spectrum of microorganisms in bronchoscopes was the subject of the work of Prof. Constanze Wendt from the Hygiene Institute, University Heidelberg, Germany. Based on her results, the hygienist demands disinfectants to be active against bacteria, including mycobacteria, yeasts and against enveloped viruses.
In addition to the presentation of so far unpublished studies and new perceptions at highest level the participants of the 8th International Hygiene Days particularly appreciated the possibility of an international exchange of opinions. Concepts for the advancement of infection prevention were presented and enthusiastically discussed. The international congress line-up provided insights into many different approaches and, beyond personal contacts, offered suggestions for the realization of new hygiene strategies.
An English special edition with the presentations of the 8th International BODE Hygiene Days is currently being prepared.
Further information:
BODE CHEMIE
Nicole Hirth
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(Last update: July 2007)