Infection prevention and control measures for acute respiratory infections in healthcare settings: an update.

Viruses account for the majority of the acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) globally with a mortality exceeding 4 million deaths per year. The most commonly encountered viruses, in order of frequency, include influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza and adenovirus. Current evidence suggests that the major mode of transmission of ARls is through large droplets, but transmission through contact (including hand contamination with subsequent self-inoculation) and infectious respiratory aerosols of various sizes and at short range (coined as "opportunistic" airborne transmission) may also occur for some pathogens. Opportunistic airborne transmission may occur when conducting highrisk aerosol generating procedures and airborne precautions will be required in this setting. General infection control measures effective for all respiratory viral infections are reviewed and followed by discussion on some of the common viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus and the recently discovered novel coronavirus.

Journey of a Hong Kong public teaching hospital in preparation of hospital accreditation.

Hospital accreditation is a new concept for Hong Kong Hospital Authority hospitals. Queen Mary Hospital has been engaged as one of the hospitals in a territory-wide Pilot Scheme of Hospital Accreditation. In preparation for accreditation, Queen Mary Hospital has undergone the process of self-assessment, staff engagement, and service improvements which all require well-planned strategies to achieve successful outcomes. In this article, we highlight the journey of preparation and the staff engagement exercise we conducted to attain full accreditation. We also highlight the obstacles, conundrums, and pitfalls we encountered, along with successful overcoming strategies and countermeasures we adopted, and quandaries to be avoided. Throughout the preparation, the hospital's senior executives insisted that achieving hospital accreditation was not the main focus, but rather an emphasis on how the Pilot Scheme would bring about organisational transformations in our culture, and thus foster quality, safety, effectiveness, and reliability of services. We hope our experience can provide a reference and be of value to other hospitals that will go through the journey in the future.

Educating healthcare workers to optimal hand hygiene practices: addressing the need.

The education of healthcare workers is essential to improve practices and is an integral part of hand hygiene promotional strategies. According to the evidence reviewed here, healthcare worker education has a positive impact on improving hand hygiene and reducing healthcare-associated infection. Detailed practical guidance on steps for the organization of education programmes in healthcare facilities and teaching-learning strategies are provided using the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Hand Hygiene in Health Care as the basis for recommendations. Several key elements for a successful educational programme are also identified. A particular emphasis is placed on concepts included in the tools developed by WHO for education, monitoring and performance feedback.

Natural ventilation for reducing airborne infection in hospitals.

High ventilation rate is shown to be effective for reducing cross-infection risk of airborne diseases in hospitals and isolation rooms. Natural ventilation can deliver much higher ventilation rate than mechanical ventilation in an energy-efficient manner. This paper reports a field measurement of naturally ventilated hospital wards in Hong Kong and presents a possibility of using natural ventilation for infection control in hospital wards. Our measurements showed that natural ventilation could achieve high ventilation rates especially when both the windows and the doors were open in a ward. The highest ventilation rate recorded in our study was 69.0 ACH. The airflow pattern and the airflow direction were found to be unstable in some measurements with large openings. Mechanical fans were installed in a ward window to create a negative pressure difference. Measurements showed that the negative pressure difference was negligible with large openings but the overall airflow was controlled in the expected direction. When all the openings were closed and the exhaust fans were turned on, a reasonable negative pressure was created although the air temperature was uncontrolled. The high ventilation rate provided by natural ventilation can reduce cross-infection of airborne diseases, and thus it is recommended for consideration of use in appropriate hospital wards for infection control. Our results also demonstrated a possibility of converting an existing ward using natural ventilation to a temporary isolation room through installing mechanical exhaust fans.

Use of medical face masks versus particulate respirators as a component of personal protective equipment for health care workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently available evidence supports that the predominant route of human-to-human transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 is through respiratory droplets and/or contact routes. The report by the World Health Organization (WHO) Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China supports person-to-person droplet and fomite transmission during close unprotected contact with the vast majority of the investigated infection clusters occurring within families, with a household secondary attack rate varying between 3 and 10%, a finding that is not consistent with airborne transmission. The reproduction number (R0) for the SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be between 2.2-2.7, compatible with other respiratory viruses associated with a droplet/contact mode of transmission and very different than an airborne virus like measles with a R0 widely cited to be between 12 and 18. Based on the scientific evidence accumulated to date, our view is that SARS-CoV-2 is not spread by the airborne route  to  any significant extent and the use of particulate respirators offers no advantage over medical masks as a component of personal protective equipment for the routine care of patients with COVID-19 in the health care setting. Moreover, prolonged use of particulate respirators may result in unintended harms. In conjunction with appropriate hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE) used by health care workers caring for patients with COVID-19 must be used with attention to detail and precision of execution to prevent lapses in adherence and active failures in the donning and doffing of the PPE.

Correction to: Use of medical face masks versus particulate respirators as a component of personal protective equipment for health care workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Antimicrobial stewardship program directed at broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics prescription in a tertiary hospital.

The antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) is a major strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance and to limit its expenditure. We have improved on our existing ASP to implement a sustainable and cost-effective two-stage immediate concurrent feedback (ICF) model, in which the antimicrobial prescription is audited by two part-time infection control nurses at the first stage, followed by "physician ICF" at the second stage. In January 2005, an ASP focused on broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics was implemented. All in-patients, except from the intensive care, bone marrow transplantation, liver transplantation, pediatric, and private units, being treated with broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics were included. The compliance to ICF and "physician ICF", antibiotics usage density measured by expenditure and defined daily doses (DDD) were recorded and analyzed before and after the ASP. The overall conformance rate to antibiotic prescription guidelines was 79.4%, while the conformance to ICF was 83.8%. Antibiotics consumption reduced from 73.06 (baseline, year 2004) to 64.01 (year 2007) per 1,000 patient bed-day-occupancy. Our model can be easily applied even in the clinical setting of limited resources.

Nurses and physicians' perceptions of the importance and impact of healthcare-associated infections and hand hygiene: a multi-center exploratory study in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: Hand hygiene promotion for patient safety is a challenge worldwide, and local data are critical to tailor strategies to the setting. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of nurses and physicians providing direct patient care in four hospitals in Hong Kong using an anonymous questionnaire survey. Cognitive factors related to hand hygiene and the perception of effective interventions promoting hand hygiene were assessed. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 59.3%. Among respondents, 70% of the nurses and 49% of the physicians perceived that over 15% of patients would suffer from healthcare-associated infections. A total of 79% of the nurses and 68% of the physicians believed that more than 5% of patients would die as a result of healthcare-associated infection. A total of 60% of the nurses and 46% of the physicians acknowledged that over 75% of healthcare-associated infections could be prevented by optimal hand hygiene practices, although 36% of the nurses and 23% of the physicians claimed that six to ten hand cleansing times per hour would be necessary. Bivariate analysis showed significant differences between professionals in self-reported performance. A multivariate regression model revealed that perceived behavioral control and subjective norms were the most important factors associated with the nurses and physicians' self-reported hand hygiene performance. However when gender was taken into account among professionals, subjective norms was the only consistent one. CONCLUSION: These results could be used as a tool to create goal-specific strategies for motivating hand hygiene amongst nurses and physicians in Hong Kong, with appropriate promotional interventions delivered to the different professional groups and specialties.

Comparative analytical sensitivities of six rapid influenza A antigen detection test kits for detection of influenza A subtypes H1N1, H3N2 and H5N1.

BACKGROUND: Rapid and simple methods for diagnosing human influenza A (H5N1) disease urgently needed. The limited data so far suggest that the currently available rapid antigen detection kits have poor clinical sensitivity for diagnosis of human H5N1 disease. OBJECTIVES: To compare the analytical sensitivity of six commercially available rapid antigen detection kits for the detection of "human" (subtypes H1N1, H3N2) and "avian" (subtype H5N1) influenza A viruses. STUDY DESIGN: Six commercially available test kits for the detection of influenza A were investigated. Analytic sensitivity for the detection of two contemporary H1N1, two H3N2 and three H5N1 viruses was determined using virus culture as a reference method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Each test kit detected the H5N1 virus subtypes as efficiently as they detected conventional human viruses of subtypes H1N1 or H3N2. However, limits of detection of influenza viruses of all subtypes by antigen detection kits were >1000-fold lower than virus isolation. Thus, the reportedly poor clinical sensitivity of these antigen detection kits for diagnosis of patients with H5N1 disease is not due to a difference of sensitivity for detecting avian influenza H5N1 compared to human influenza viruses.

Behavioural considerations for hand hygiene practices: the basic building blocks.

Hand hygiene is considered to be the most effective measure to prevent microbial pathogen cross-transmission and healthcare-associated infections. In October 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) World Alliance for Patient Safety launched the first Global Patient Safety Challenge 2005-2006, 'Clean Care is Safer Care', to tackle healthcare-associated infection on a large scale. Within the Challenge framework, international infection control experts and consultative taskforces met to develop new WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Healthcare. The taskforce was asked to explore aspects underlying hand hygiene behaviour that may influence its promotion among healthcare workers. The dynamics of behavioural change are complex and multi-faceted, but are of vital importance when designing a strategy to improve hand hygiene compliance. A reflection on challenges to be met and areas for future research are also proposed.

Optimising antimicrobial prescription in hospitals by introducing an antimicrobial stewardship programme in Hong Kong: consensus statement.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the implementation of an 'antimicrobial stewardship programme' as a means to improve the quality of antimicrobial use in a hospital setting in Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: Consensus working group on 'antimicrobial stewardship programme', The Scientific Committee on Infection Control, Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, comprised 11 experts. The remit of the working group was to discuss the rationale and requirement for optimising antimicrobial prescriptions in hospitals by the introduction of an 'antimicrobial stewardship programme'. EVIDENCE: PubMed articles, national and international guidelines, and abstracts of international meetings published between January 2000 and December 2004 on programmes for improving the use of antimicrobials in hospitals. Only English medical literature was reviewed. CONSENSUS PROCESS: Data search was performed independently by three members of the working group. They met on three occasions before the meeting to discuss all collected articles. A final draft was circulated to the working group before a meeting on 3 January 2005. Five commonly asked questions about an 'antimicrobial stewardship programme' were selected for discussion by the participants. Published information on the rationale, components, outcome measures, advantages, and disadvantages of the programme was reviewed. Recent unpublished data from local studies of an 'antimicrobial stewardship programme' were also discussed. The timing, potential problems, and practical issues involved in the implementation of an 'antimicrobial stewardship programme' in Hong Kong were then considered. The consensus statement was circulated to and approved by all participants. CONCLUSION: The continuous indiscriminate and excessive use of antimicrobial agents promotes the emergence of antibiotic-resistant organisms. Antimicrobial resistance substantially raises already-rising health care costs and increases patient morbidity and mortality. Pattern of prescriptions in hospitals can be improved through the implementation of an 'antimicrobial stewardship programme'. A 'universal' and 'continuous' 'antimicrobial stewardship programme' should now be established in Hong Kong hospitals.

Clinical evaluation of real-time PCR assays for rapid diagnosis of SARS coronavirus during outbreak and post-epidemic periods.

BACKGROUND: The protocols of WHO network laboratories facilitated development of rapid diagnosis for SARS coronavirus (CoV) using reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assays. However, several reports have shown that conventional and real-time PCR assays were very specific for SARS CoV but lack sensitivity depending on the assay, specimen, and time course of disease. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an automatic nucleic acid extraction system and two standardized real-time PCR assays for rapid diagnosis of SARS CoV during outbreak and post-epidemic periods in Hong Kong. STUDY DESIGN: Specimens from clinically suspected SARS patients collected during outbreak and post-epidemic periods were tested by an automatic nucleic acid extraction system followed by our first generation conventional RT-PCR and two standardized real-time PCR assays (Artus GmbH, Germany and Roche Diagnostics, Germany). Paired serum samples were assayed for increasing titer against SARS CoV. RESULTS: In the SARS epidemic, Artus and Roche PCR assays exhibited sensitivities of 87% and 85% for respiratory specimens (n = 64), 91% and 88% for stool (n = 44), and 82% for urine (n = 29). A specificity of 100% was exhibited by both PCR assays except Artus attained only a 92% specificity for stool. For post-epidemic period, no SARS CoV was identified among 56 respiratory specimens by all PCR assays. Inhibitors to PCR assays were detected at an average rate of 7-8% among 202 clinical specimens. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the high throughput and performance of automatic RNA extraction in coordination with standardized real-time PCR assays suitable for large-scale routine diagnosis in case of future SARS epidemic. As no SARS CoV was detected among specimens collected during post-epidemic period, the positive predictive value of real-time PCR assays for detection of SARS CoV during low epidemic requires further evaluation.

Airborne transmission and precautions: facts and myths.

Airborne transmission occurs only when infectious particles of <5 µm, known as aerosols, are propelled into the air. The prevention of such transmission is expensive, requiring N95 respirators and negative pressure isolation rooms. This lecture first discussed whether respiratory viral infections are airborne with reference to published reviews of studies before 2008, comparative trials of surgical masks and N95 respirators, and relevant new experimental studies. However, the most recent experimental study, using naturally infected influenza volunteers as the source, showed negative results from all the manikins that were exposed. Modelling studies by ventilation engineers were then summarized to explain why these results were not unexpected. Second, the systematic review commissioned by the World Health Organization on what constituted aerosol-generating procedures was summarized. From the available evidence, endotracheal intubation either by itself or combined with other procedures (e.g. cardiopulmonary resuscitation or bronchoscopy) was consistently associated with increased risk of transmission by the generation of aerosols.

Antiulcer drug prescribing in hospital successfully influenced by "immediate concurrent feedback".

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether immediate concurrent feedback (ICF) focused on inpatient omeprazole prescribing achieved more rational and cost-effective antiulcer drug prescribing and usage. METHODS: In a 1400-bed teaching hospital, an audit (by specially trained personnel) was conducted to monitor inpatient prescribing of omeprazole (1) in preference to H2-antagonists and other drugs according to agreed criteria (Helicobacter pylori eradication, severe reflux esophagitis, rapid ulcer healing deemed urgent because of severe symptoms or complications, high-dose steroid therapy of > or =30 mg/day prednisolone) and (2) appropriateness of intravenous dosing (oral route not feasible or contraindicated). After baseline monitoring for 1 month, followed by relevant antiulcer drug therapy education, ICF was instituted for 1 year. This entailed explanatory memoranda requesting a change in prescribing issued to the respective medical teams of patients whose omeprazole prescription did not "conform." The main outcomes of the study were omeprazole prescription numbers per month and the proportion conforming, defined daily doses of antiulcer drugs used and corresponding expenditures, and pertinent antiulcer drug utilization data from 9 other local hospitals. RESULTS: Baseline omeprazole prescribing conformed in 32 of 173 (18%) of the patients compared with 451 of 546 (83%) during institution of ICF (P < 0001; chi2 test). Correspondingly, average overall omeprazole and ranitidine usage (inpatient and outpatient) and expenditure decreased (44% and 45%, respectively); collectively, use of less expensive alternatives increased about 61%. Estimated savings averaged about HK$150,000 ($20,000) per month. No comparable changes in usage were noted in 9 other local hospitals. CONCLUSION: Regarding hospital antiulcer drugs, this ICF strategy was associated with more rational prescribing and usage, and an important saving of resources.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in infancy.

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been shown to be the cause of infectious mononucleosis (IM) and has more complicated associations with several malignant diseases. These EBV associated diseases provide a strong incentive for the development of an EBV vaccine. Most primary EBV infection during infancy and early childhood is mild or subclinical. Little is known about its infection in infancy. The pattern of EBV serological response during infancy may be important for vaccine management. OBJECTIVES: this study has served to clarify the epidemiology and serology of primary EBV infection during early infancy. STUDY DESIGN: longitudinal serum samples from 66 Hong Kong infants were tested for EBV antibodies by immunofluorescence. Cord blood and sequential serum samples from these infants were taken at birth and then at 4-month intervals up to 2 years of age. RESULTS: maternal antibodies were present at different levels in all cord blood specimens and in serum samples of 8 infants at 4-month of age. Evidenced by VCA-IgG seroconversion, 60.6% (40/66) infants were infected during the first 2 years of life. One episode occurred before 8 months of age but, thereafter and for the remaining 16 months of follow-up until the infants were 2 years of age, the infection occurred at essentially a constant rate affecting about 20% of the remaining seronegative infants every 4 months. CONCLUSIONS: the abrupt onset of the infection after a delay of 8 months is a remarkable feature of primary EBV infection during infancy, which implicates a protective role for maternal antibodies. Persisting maternal antibodies may additionally serve to contain the infection once it occurred. This may partly explain why, unlike during adolescence, primary EBV infection early in life is usually asymptomatic.

Educational needs in patient care practices in Hong Kong.

We conducted a survey on staff perceptions of what the educational needs would be for an infection surveillance and control program in patient care practices in 10 hospitals in Hong Kong. Seven hundred twenty nurses were interviewed and were requested to select their needs from six topics: isolation procedures, disinfection of environment and instruments, surgical wound care, urinary catheter care, prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonia, and prevention of infusion therapy sepsis. According to their pattern of needs, the clinical units could be divided into three groups. Staff members in the "medically oriented units," consisting of the medical, geriatric, obstetric, and intensive care units, indicated that their greatest needs were in the areas of isolation procedures and disinfection of environment and instruments, whereas nurses in the "surgically oriented units," consisting of surgical, orthopedic, and gynecologic units, indicated that surgical wound care was the area where education was most needed. The pattern in the third group, the pediatric units, was similar to that of medical units in indicating isolation procedures and disinfection of environment and instruments as the greatest needs but differed in having a higher score for prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonias and a lower score for surgical wound care. An effective educational program should take these needs into consideration. We discuss the application of the survey findings in planning in-service education in infection control.

The enhancement of infection control in-service education by ward opinion leaders.

Opinion leaders are members within a social group with significant social influence over others. A guideline on urinary catheter care was introduced in three groups (A, B, and C) of two randomly allocated wards. Two opinion leaders per ward were identified by nurses in groups A and B with the use of a sociometric method. For education, in-service lectures for 30% of nurses and opinion leaders' tutorials for all nurses were used in group A; opinion leaders' tutorials alone in B, and lectures alone in C. Before and after the education program, the guideline's frequency of practice was assessed by surveying 30% of randomly selected nurses and by direct observation. Results of the survey were comparable for groups A and B and both groups were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than C, suggesting that informational transmission by opinion leaders was superior to that by the lecture. However, practices by direct observation in group A were significantly better (p less than 0.05) than those in B, indicating that staff compliance is best achieved by using both opinion leaders and lectures. The lecture probably endorsed the opinion leaders' leadership, enhancing their ability to influence the staff.

Direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical specimens using single-tube biotinylated nested polymerase chain reaction-enzyme linked immunoassay (PCR-ELISA).

A biotinylated single-tube nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with microwell hybridization assay (bPCR-ELISA) was developed for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical specimens. A total of 659 specimens (601 respiratory specimens and 58 nonrespiratory specimens) were collected for evaluation using three DNA amplification techniques: newly designed bPCR-ELISA, in-house single-tube nested PCR for IS6110 gene sequence (nPCR), and commercial automated assays, the Cobas Amplicor System from Roche Diagnostic Systems (aPCR). Sixty-four (9.7%) specimens were culture-positive for M. tuberculosis. Eleven (1.7%) specimens culture-positive for nontuberculosis mycobacteria were negative by all three PCR assays. The resolved performance of bPCR-ELISA, nPCR, and aPCR was found at sensitivities of 97%, 94%, and 97%, respectively. All three PCR assays exhibited a 100% specificity. In evaluation of bPCR-ELISA, a clear distinction between PCR-positive and PCR-negative specimens when an OD405 value of 0.6 was chosen as cut-off. With serial dilutions of M. tuberculosis H37Rv DNA, the detection limit of bPCR-ELISA was found to be 0.75 cfu per reaction at OD405 value of 0.6. Our developed bPCR-ELISA provides a highly sensitive and low-costing molecular diagnosis suitable for developing countries with high prevalence of tuberculosis.