Health authorities ramp up efforts to keep out deadly coronavirus
Travellers arriving at Sydney airport from the Chinese city of Wuhan will face additional biosecurity measures as Australian health authorities attempt to prevent the outbreak of a new coronavirus infiltrating the country. The virus, which first broke out at a fish market in Wuhan before spreading across China and to parts of South Korea, Thailand […]
Reducing catheter associated urinary tract infections
One of the most common infections occurring in hospitals are urinary tract infections, with approximately 1% of admitted patients acquiring this infection in Australia- or 71,000 cases per year (Mitchell et al. 2016; Mitchell et al. 2017). A large proportion of these are associated with the insertion, care and or maintenance of urinary catheters – […]
Drug could reverse antibiotic resistance
A drug that was originally designed to help Alzheimer’s and Huntington disease may actually be beneficial in combating antibiotic resistant bacteria. The University of Queensland researchers have been investigating the antibacterial properties of the drug. Professor Mark Walker from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said the drug PBT2 was designed to disrupt the […]
Dramatic drop in hand hygiene compliance
Healthcare worker compliance with national hand hygiene guidelines falls from more than 90 to 30% when they are not being observed, latest research shows. The national mandatory hand hygiene program was introduced in Australian hospitals eight years ago and requires a 70% compliance rate The University of NSW (UNSW) study monitored human and automated methods […]