Mar 28th, 2023 - The use of alcohol-based sanitizers has been recommended as an effective alternative to clean hands, especially in the case when hand washing is not doable. This is especially critical with the COVID-19 pandemic, where personal hygiene is an important factor to deter the spread of the virus. This study assesses and evaluates the differences in antibacterial efficacy and functionalities of five ...

Mar 12th, 2023 - The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed our lives. Since the SARS-CoV-2 was discovered, many studies have been done on the transmission mode, its replication within humans, and its survival even in the outside environment and on inanimate surfaces. Undoubtedly, health care workers have faced the greatest risks because of their close contact with potentially infected patients. Of these, den...

Mar 7th, 2023 - The COVID-19 pandemic and the disease triggered by the African Swine Fever virus are currently two of the main problems regarding public and animal health, respectively. Although vaccination seems to be the ideal tool for controlling these diseases, it has several limitations. Therefore, early detection of the pathogen is critical in order to apply preventive and control measures. Real-time PCR...

Feb 25th, 2023 - In the last years, forensic research has been focused on touch DNA in order to improve its evidential value in criminal activity investigations as well as to understand the variables impacting touch DNA. One of the emerging variables is represented by the use of alcohol-based sanitizers, which was suggested for hand hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aims of the present study were to ass...

Feb 13th, 2023 - The World Health Organization recommends skin-to-skin contact (SSC) in newborns of mothers with COVID-19, applying infection prevention and control measures, and after a process of antenatal counseling on the possible risks and benefits. In this study, the reasons given for and against postnatal SSC in mothers with COVID-19 were reviewed. Between November and December 2020, we conducted a scopi...

Feb 12th, 2023 - Due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, the wearing of masks has become a common phenomenon. Most of the undesirable effects of using a protective face covering are usually related to the prolonged time of its wearing, and the adverse consequences of face coverings should be considered two-fold. The aim of the study was to evaluate the rate of contamination of the three types of face coveri...

Feb 9th, 2023 - UV light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) are energy efficient and of special interest for the inactivation of microorganisms. In context of the current pandemic, novel UV technologies can offer a powerful alternative of effective infection prevention and control (IPC). We here assessed the antimicrobial efficacy of UV-C LEDs on Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Listeria innocua as well as...

Feb 9th, 2023 - Healthcare environmental hygiene (HEH) has become recognized as being increasingly important for patient safety and the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. At the 2022 Healthcare Cleaning Forum at Interclean in Amsterdam, the academic lectures focused on a series of main areas of interest. These areas are indicative of some of the main trends and avenues for research in the coming y...

Feb 3rd, 2023 - We conducted an experimental case study to demonstrate the application of proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS) for mobile breathing zone (BZ) monitoring of volatile chemical exposures in workplace environments during COVID-19 disinfection activities. The experiments were conducted in an architectural engineering laboratory-the Purdue zero Energy Design Guidance...

Feb 2nd, 2023 - Epidemiology and Pathophysiology The rate risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) in patients with a spinal cord injury (SCI) is proportionate to the extent of both neurologic and urologic damage.The overall incidence of urinary tract infection in SCI is 2.5 cases per year. [1] In patients practicing clean intermittent catheterization, the mean incidence of UTIs is 10.3 cases per 1000 catheter da...

Feb 2nd, 2023 - Epidemiology and Pathophysiology The rate risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) in patients with a spinal cord injury (SCI) is proportionate to the extent of both neurologic and urologic damage.The overall incidence of urinary tract infection in SCI is 2.5 cases per year. [1] In patients practicing clean intermittent catheterization, the mean incidence of UTIs is 10.3 cases per 1000 catheter da...

Feb 2nd, 2023 - The rate risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) in patients with a spinal cord injury (SCI) is proportionate to the extent of both neurologic and urologic damage.The overall incidence of urinary tract infection in SCI is 2.5 cases per year.[1] In patients practicing clean intermittent catheterization, the mean incidence of UTIs is 10.3 cases per 1000 catheter days. After 3 months, the rate has d...

Jan 31st, 2023 - This patient’s targetoid and tingling skin lesions, in association with herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, are a classic presentation of erythema multiforme (EM). EM is an acute, self-limited, immune-mediated process that most commonly arises in a symmetrical pattern on acral surfaces.

Jan 22nd, 2023 - Indirect contact with contaminated surfaces is a potential transmission route for COVID-19. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate convenient and inexpensive surface sanitization methods, such as HOCl, against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The SARS-CoV-2 surrogate, Phi6 (~ 7 log PFU/mL), was prepared in artificial saliva and tripartite matrices, spot inoculate...

Jan 18th, 2023 - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has spread to almost all corners of the world at an alarming rate. Vaccination is important for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts are underway worldwide to develop an effective vaccine ag...

Jan 12th, 2023 - SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has been associated with substantial global morbidity and mortality. Despite a tropism that is largely confined to the airways, COVID-19 is associated with multiorgan dysfunction and long-term cognitive pathologies. A major driver of this biology stems from the combined effects of virus-mediated interference with the host antiviral de...

Jan 10th, 2023 - Inanimate surfaces within hospitals can be a source of transmission for highly resistant microorganisms (HRMO). While many hospitals are transitioning to single-occupancy rooms, the effect of single-occupancy rooms on environmental contamination is still unknown. We aimed to determine differences in environmental contamination with HRMO between an old hospital building with mainly multiple-occu...

Jan 4th, 2023 - The performance of dishwashers in removing live viruses is an important informative value in practical applications. Since foodborne viruses are present in contaminated food surfaces and water environments. Insufficient washing of dishes typically makes a carrier of foodborne viruses. Dishwashers have shown excellent performance in removing bacterial pathogens, but very limited reports related ...

Dec 30th, 2022 - Despite the availability of vaccines and therapeutics, continual genetic alterations render the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) a persistent threat, particularly for the immunocompromised and elderly. Through interactions of its spike (S) protein with different receptors and coreceptors on host cell surfaces, the virus enters the cell either via fusion with the plas...

Dec 27th, 2022 - In fall 2020 when schools in the Netherlands operated under a limited set of COVID-19 measures, we conducted outbreaks studies in four secondary schools to gain insight in the level of school transmission and the role of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via air and surfaces. Outbreak studies were performed between 11 November and 15 December 2020 when the wild-type variant of SARS-CoV-2 was dominant. Cl...