Podcast
Infection Control Matters
Hosted by Brett Mitchell · EN
We are a group of professionals who work in the field of infectious disease and infection prevention and control. In this podcast series, we discuss new research and issues on the topic of infection prevention and control.
We will pick new papers of interest and will discuss them, often with an author of the paper who can give us some insights into the research that go beyond the written paper. We are unfunded and do not accept solicitations from companies or marketeers.
Authors will include nurses, doctors, academics, clinicians, administrators and leaders.
We should stress that all of our comments relate to our own opinions and that they do not necessarily reflect those institutions and employers that we relate to.
We welcome comment, suggestions and ideas. Please consider subscribing for updates and to find collections of topic specific podcasts at www.infectioncontrolmatters.com
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Highlights from ESCMID 2026: Key Papers in Infection Control
2w ago00:12:02Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Brett and Martin talked to Dr Nico Tom Mutters about the papers he selected in the always popular 'Year in Infection Control' session at ESCMID Global 2026. Nico is Director of the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health at Bonn University Hospital and also Chair of EUCIC (European Committee on Infection Control). It is always fascinating to see which papers are selected in these sessions and we discussed a few papers that he selected from the preceding 12 months, a list of which follow. SuDDICU Investigators for the Australia New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group and the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract during Ventilation in the ICU. N Engl J Med 2026;394(15):1491–502. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2506398 Hammond NE. et al. Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract in Adult Mechanically Ventilated Patients - An Updated Systematic Review with Bayesian Meta-Analysis. NEJM Evid 2026;5(5):EVIDoa2500264. https://doi.org/10.1056/EVIDoa2500264 Arreba P. et al. Gel nail polish does not have a negative impact on the nail bacterial burden nor on the quality of hand hygiene with an alcohol-based hand rub. J Hosp Infect 2025;157:40–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2024.12.006 Gross N. et al. Effects of microplastic concentration, composition, and size on Escherichia coli biofilm-associated antimicrobial resistance. Appl Environ Microbiol 2025;91(4):e0228224. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02282-24 Reese SM. et al. Why do infection preventionists leave a job? A qualitative evaluation of infection preventionist attrition in health care. Am J Infect Control 2025;53(9):919–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2025.06.011 Other papers selected by Nico were: Mason M. et al Moral distress among infection prevention and control professionals: A scoping review. Infect Dis Health 2025;30(2):152–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idh.2024.10.002 Kotay SM. et al. Biofilm removal in hospital sink drains drives unintended surges in antibiotic resistance. NPJ Antimicrob Resist 2026;4(1):5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44259-025-00176-2 Ferreira JMG. et al. Quality of hand hygiene performance: A systematic literature review. Am J Infect Control 2026;54(2):192–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2025.08.025 Ullman AJ. et al. A Comparison of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Materials. N Engl J Med 2025;392(2):161–72. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2406815 Recanatini C. et al. Impact of Pseudomonas aeruginosa carriage on intensive care unit-acquired pneumonia: a European multicentre prospective cohort study. Clin Microbiol Infect 2025;31(3):433–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2024.11.007 Orsel LM. et al. The role of gowns in preventing nosocomial transmission of respiratory viruses: a systematic review. J Hosp Infect 2025;163:57–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2025.05.023 Mellon G. et al. Assessment of air infectious contamination during wound care in a burn intensive care unit using shotgun metagenomics. Am J Infect Control 2025;53(11):1144–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2025.08.003 Kim JH. et al. Association between multidrug-resistant organism status and quality of end-of-life care in patients with advanced cancer referred to palliative care: a retrospective cohort study with nationwide data linkage. Clin Microbiol Infect 2026;32(5):822–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2025.11.032 Sutjipto S. et al. Plastic Waste and COVID-19 Incidence Among Hospital Staff After Deescalation in PPE Use. JAMA Netw Open 2025;8(4):e255264. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.5264
Transcribe →ESCMID Global 2026: What Matters for Practice
May 600:27:49Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Brett and Martin reflect on the IPC components a major conference. Recorded after our visit to ESCMID Global 2026 held in Munich, Germany in April, this episode brings together key insights and conversations from across the first three days of the meeting. We reflect on emerging evidence, practical challenges, and the real-world implications for infection prevention and control, with a focus on what genuinely shifts practice rather than what simply looks good on paper. As always, the aim is to translate complex science into usable ideas for clinicians, infection preventionists, and anyone working to reduce harm from healthcare-associated infection. Sunsequent episodes will include discussions with presenters and the poster sessions will follow. In this episode we included sessions in which you might find these links interesting: Albers B, et al. Examining tailoring as an implementation strategy for reducing healthcare-associated infections across European acute care hospitals (REVERSE): study protocol for a hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation trial. Trials 2025;26(1):418. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-025-09132-x https://www.reverseproject.eu/ Kalisvar Marimuthu's Bluesky post on his toilet session (well worth a look): https://bsky.app/profile/kalisvar.bsky.social/post/3mjthohalq22e
Transcribe →Why Healthcare Cleaning Is Different: Reflections from Interclean 2026
Apr 1600:13:04Tap to summarizeIn this episode, recorded live from Interclean in Amsterdam, Brett and Martin highlight the contibution of Clean Hospitals to healthcare hygiene and reflect on the contrast between healthcare cleaning and the wider cleaning industry. While the scale, innovation, and investment in cleaning technology are impressive, much of it is not designed with healthcare realities in mind. We discuss why cleaning in hospitals is fundamentally different — shaped by interruptions, human behaviour, complex environments, and higher-risk pathogens. Key links www.cleanhospitals.com Paper referred to: Xie, A., C. Rock, Y.-J. Hsu, P. Osei, J. Andonian, V. Scheeler, S. C. Keller, S. E. Cosgrove and A. P. Gurses (2018). "Improving Daily Patient Room Cleaning: An Observational Study Using a Human Factors and Systems Engineering Approach." IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors 6(3-4): 178–191. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6760906/pdf/nihms-1041686.pdf
Transcribe →Automated bloodstream infection surveillance - Measuring what matters?
Apr 100:16:21Tap to summarizeHow well do we really measure bloodstream infections and could it be routinely automated? In this episode, Brett and Martin look at two papers on automated hospital-onset bacteraemia (HOB) surveillance, one a retrospective review in a single hospital in Berlin (Rüther et al) and a national UK study (Cregan, Oxford and UKHSA) exploring whether surveillance could move from local, manual processes to a fully automated national system, which was spectacularly accurate. Ruther, F. D., M. Behnke, L. A. Pena Diaz, F. Schwab, C. Geffers and S. J. S. Aghdassi (2026). "Advancing hospital-onset bacteraemia surveillance: a five-year retrospective study following the hospital-wide implementation of an automated surveillance system at a German university hospital." Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 15(1). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13756-026-01708-9 Cregan, J., O. Nsonwu, D. Chudasama, S. Hopkins, B. Muller-Pebody, R. Hope, C. Brown, D. W. Eyre, T. P. Quan and A. S. Walker (2026). "The potential of a centrally implemented system for national surveillance of bloodstream infections in England, compared to current local surveillance, 2023-2024." J Hosp Infect 169: 5–14. https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(25)00417-7/fulltext
Transcribe →Surfaces - High touch or high risk?
Mar 1800:13:38Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Martin and Brett talk about what is a high risk and what is a high touch surface. Are they the same? The discussion is based on the following paper: Zheng et al (2025). “High-touch” surfaces are not always “high-risk” surfaces in ICU environment. Journal of hospital infection. https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(26)00079-4/fulltext
Transcribe →Do we feel that we are experts? Take two
Feb 2500:19:16Tap to summarizeBack in July 2022 when the world was opening up again Brett, Phil and Martin were all in Melbourne and met up for a chat. The topic was 'Are we experts', however due to incompetence (Martin) the recording was terrible and his rather poor editing skills (learnt entirely by watching YouTube videos from Mike Russell) didn't help much. Now however by using Adobe AI voice enhancement it has been possible to rescuscitate the recording, and we felt that it was worth a reissue.
Transcribe →Resourcing of hospital infection prevention and control programs
Feb 1100:24:59Tap to summarizeIn this podcast, Phil and Brett speak with Dr Lyn-Li Lim from VICNISS (Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System)in Australia. Dr Lim and colleagues recently explored the infection prevention and control resourcing levels in 113 facilities, including FTE per 100 beds. This podcast explores the differences in resourcing for different categories of hospitals. A link to the publication is here. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019665532500570X
Transcribe →Hospital or Crime Scene? What Forensic Science Reveals About “Clean”
Jan 2800:27:10Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Martin Kiernan talks to Dr Sarah Fieldhouse, Associate Professor of Forensic Science and Dr Emmanuel Babafemi, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences both of the University of Staffordshire, UK. We discuss a recent paper looking at hospital cleanliness. Using forensic light, the study uncovered invisible contamination on surfaces that looked clean to the naked eye. We discuss what fluorescence reveals, what ATP misses, and how this approach could reshape environmental monitoring in healthcare. The open access paper is available here: Fieldhouse S, Bastaki BB, Ledgerton A, Clarke P, Lewis T. Assessing the effectiveness of hospital cleaning using fluorescence: a proof-of-concept study and comparison with ATP testing. J Hosp Infect 2025;166:38-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2025.08.008. https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0195-6701%2825%2900267-1
Transcribe →AMR at a National level - The 2025 ESPAUR Report
Jan 1400:56:10Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Martin talks to Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope and colleagues at the UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency) about the 2025 ESPAUR report, focusing on what the latest data mean for clinicians, infection prevention teams, and health system leaders. We explore what the latest data reveal about antimicrobial resistance and prescribing trends in England, including changes in resistance patterns among major bacterial pathogens and what this means for patient safety and clinical outcomes. We discuss what’s improving, where challenges remain, and how infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship teams can use national surveillance data to drive meaningful local action. You can download the report in it's entirety here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6936ac34b612700b2cb73607/ESPAUR-report-2024-to-2025.pdf There is also a supplement and summary in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy which can be accessed here: https://academic.oup.com/jacamr/issue/8/Supplement_2 The TARGET antibiotics toolkit hub is abailable here: https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=553 e-Bug is available here: https://www.e-bug.eu/
Transcribe →2025 Christmas Special
Dec 1700:48:19Tap to summarizeThis is our traditional end of year Christmas special. In this episode we consider highlights from year and have a bit of fun - including a stakeout in London. We talk about our views on the most significant systematic review, our favourite presentation/poster, RCTs would like to see and predictions for 2026.
Transcribe →