EPISODE261 -Dr Catherine Noakes & Dr L. Fletcher- Hospital Acquired Infect.

Dr. Catherine Noakes, PhD, CEng is the Director of Pathogen Control Engineering Institute at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds. She is also the Leader of Aerobiology and Infection Control Research Group at the University of Leeds. The Aerobiology and Infection Control Group is a multi-disciplinary research team comprising microbiologists, engineers and mathematical modelers. The group has considerable experience in evaluating bioaerosols in indoor environments and engineering measures to control infection. Their Research is driven by the continuing problem of hospital acquired infection and the worldwide health concerns about infectious diseases spread through airborne routes. Airborne transmission is known to be a primary mechanism in the transmission of TB and influenza, but has also been implicated in the transmission of nosocomial infections including MRSA, Acinetobacter spp, C. difficile and norovirus. In addition, contamination of the environment through contact with dirty hands and objects or airborne dispersal provides a potential reservoir of pathogens which could subsequently cause infection by indirect contacts. Regardless of the pathogen, successful control of infection involves breaking the chain of transmission, for which it is necessary to understand both the mode of transmission as well as the nature of the pathogen and its behavior in the environment. Understanding this complex interaction between people, pathogens and the built environment is at the heart of their research. The paper that prompted the press interest is work carried out by Marco-Felipe King, one of my PhD students, stated Dr. Noakes. His overall project is trying to determine whether single rooms in hospitals present a lower infection risk than multi-bed rooms. This is something that is quite often stated and for which there is anecdotal evidence, but isn't quantified. He is trying to quantify the difference in risk between the two types of rooms for infection spread due to environmental contamination. This paper presents the first part of this work where he was looking to quantify surface contamination due to an aerosol source and validate the techniques for modeling it. This is feeding into the next stage of the research where he is using the ability to predict contamination on a surface together with a mathematical model for a nurse moving around a ward and touching surfaces to compare the potential for contamination.