Kramer also believes that patients and their relatives and friends could also help to improve medical professionals’ compliance in hand disinfection by informing them when and where hand disinfection is required in advance and then telling them to request this from staff. “Many patients already check the medication that they are given by hospital staff, and we want to encourage this same activity for hand disinfection. Both patients and staff are unsure of procedures in this respect”, said Kramer.

Urinary Tract Infections - prevent them with new approaches
In addition to traditional sets of hospital hygiene measures, such as hygienic hand disinfection that complies with indications and aseptic techniques, other aspects also play a role in preventing infectious disease. These aspects are not necessarily new, but they are fundamentally different from those named above. This is true for diagnosing a urinary tract infection, for example. The UTI shows up because it matches a certain clinical picture, or in many cases as a result of a microbiological diagnosis. “Both of these involve disturbance variables that can lead to a false diagnosis being given which in turn leads to non-indicated antibiotic exposure”, warned Dr Thomas Schwanz MD, Head of Department for the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene of the University of Mainz. In his speech, Schwanz has thus decided to point out these various limitations and the possibility that diagnoses which have also been described in the latest literature, may be inaccurately interpreted. He hopes that discussing these will lead to the development of optimized strategies for preventing UTIs in the future.
Clostridium difficile – a global challenge
Prof. Dr Mariam Klouche MD reports on the latest on Clostridium difficile infections and their huge relevance to medical practice. Screening for Clostridium difficile is no longer only being done for patients that have been treated in hospital multiple times. It is increasingly also being screened for in outpatient care. “Clostridium difficile is a global challenge. The pathogen can appear as a colonization of the colon and can lead to serious, or potentially fatal infections as a result of antibiotic therapy or other predisposing factors” explained the Medical Director of LADR GmbH MVZ [Medical Care Centre] Bremen. Recently, we were able to show that the incidence of C. difficile infections could be drastically reduced by infection stewardship programs and, more specifically, through restricting certain antibiotics. In her presentation, she describes the special features of C. difficile, the new risk groups that have become known, most recently in outpatient units and the current therapy options. Potential prevention measures will be presented and discussed with the participants.

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