Environmental sampling - do we know what we are doing?

In this week's episode Brett and Martin discuss a recent paper from the ESGNI (ESCMID Study Group for Nosocomial Infections) that looks at a survey of environmental sampling practrices in Europe. Are we more confident on our abilities than we should be? As ever, more questions and answers with this one. We also highlight a very useful paper published in JHI a couple of years aso (See below)

 

ESGNI Link -  https://www.escmid.org/research_projects/study_groups/study_groups_g_n/nosocomial_infections/

1. van der Schoor AS, et al. Environmental sampling practices of innate hospital surfaces. A need for guidance and consensus? A survey conducted by the ESCMID Study Group for Nosocomial Infections (ESGNI). J Hosp Infect. 2022.  https://doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2022.07.024  https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(22)00243-2/fulltext

2. Rawlinson S, et al. How to carry out microbiological sampling of healthcare environment surfaces? A review of current evidence. J Hosp Infect. 2019;103(4):363-374.  https://doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2019.07.015