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Copyright of SOFW Journal (German version) is the property of Verlag fuer chemische Industrie H. Ziolkowsky GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hand hygiene is essential for preventing healthcare-associated infections. However, hand hygiene compliance is often hin-dered by a number of factors, one of which is irritant contact dermatitis. Illustrating the benefits of skin friendly hand disin-fectants and their effect on skin condition could positively influence hand hygiene compliance. The aim of this study was to analyse the skin hydrating effect of a hand disinfectant with a comprehensive skin care complex using Capacitive Contact Imaging (CCI) as a method to assess and visualise skin hydration in comparison to conventional cor-neometry. In addition to established parameters, including pH value, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and dermatological assessments, the study investigated the dermatological effects of a two-week application of a hand disinfectant foam. Frequent daily application of the product led to an improvement in skin hydration without causing intolerability. The results from CCI and corneometry were consistently comparable and showed significantly elevated skin hydration after the two-week application period. CCI illustrated the increased skin hydration and it’s potential to be used as an additional method to evaluate and demonstrate the effect of hand hygiene products on skin health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) affect approximately 3.2-6.5% of hospitalised patients in the US and Europe, improving hand hygiene (HH) could reduce HAI rates. Investigating HH is time-consuming and not always objective, and comprehensive, unbiased data is needed to develop effective strategies. Using electronic tools can provide new and detailed insights on the determinants of HH., Aim: To evaluate location-dependent usage of wall-mounted dispensers (WMDs) and point-of-care dispensers (POCs) using an electronic HH recording system., Methods: In this retrospective study, hand rub volumes were anonymously recorded for 931,446 disinfections from 17 wards in nine German hospitals using the electronic monitoring system NosoEx®. Number of disinfections and rub volumes of WMDs/POCs by ward and room type were analysed., Findings: Generally, WMDs were most prevalent. With >3 dispensers per bed and >20 disinfections per patient day, availability and use were highest in intensive care (ICU) and intermediate care (IMC), but here rub volumes from WMDs were lowest (∼2.0 mL). Although most dispensers are located in patient rooms (∼42%), they are more frequently used in hallways. In surgical ICUs, dispensers are often used in patient rooms, where contact with open wounds is common. About 3.6 mL of hand rub is used per disinfection in treatment rooms, the highest volume of all room types., Conclusion: Dispenser use was dependent on location, room type, ward specialisation and workflow. Optimising the location of hand rub dispensers (HRDs)s is not the only solution to improve HH, but can help reduce inconvenience, achieve more ergonomic workflows and better meet user needs., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Aim: The "Five moments of hand hygiene" (World Health Organization 2009) can be classified into moments of hand hygiene before and after patient care. Based on research indicating that hand hygiene compliance differs with regard to moments before and after patient care, this research evaluates the effectiveness of an empathy-based intervention in motivating hand hygiene compliance with regard to moments before patient care which protect vulnerable individuals from contamination and infection., Subjects and Method: An online experiment involving 68 healthcare professionals working at a German hospital during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic investigates whether instructing healthcare professionals to consider consequences for others (vs for themselves) if they contracted SARS-CoV-2 promotes hand hygiene compliance referring to moments before (vs after) patient care., Results: In the condition in which healthcare professionals considered consequences for others if they contracted SARS-CoV-2 (other-focus condition), ratings of importance increased ( M = 3.49, SD = 1.30) compared to the condition in which healthcare professionals considered consequences for themselves ( M = 2.68, SD = 1.24), F (1,66) = 6.87, p = .011, part η 2 = .09. Participants in the other-focus condition reported more intentions to comply with "before moments" in the future ( M = 3.34, SD = 1.14) compared to participants in the self-focus condition ( M = 2.77, SD = 0.80), F (1,66) = 6.15, p = .016, part η 2 = .09., Conclusion: Results indicate that activating an empathic focus in the context of the current pandemic promotes perceived importance and motivation of healthcare professionals to comply with moments aiming at protecting vulnerable others., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-022-01725-z., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest/competing interestsVikroria Kolbe and Heide Niesalla are employees of BODE Chemie GmbH., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

A bovine in vitro organ culture (BIVOC) system was evaluated as a model to study host and pathogen events during the course of bovine herpesvirus-1 infection. Upper respiratory tract epithelium, from slaughtered animals, was cultured in an air-liquid interface system and integrity, viability, and TNF-alpha gene expression of tissue explants were monitored over 72h in the presence or absence of infection by bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1). Uninfected explants maintained viability and integrity over the 72h time course although histological signs of degeneration were first visible from 24h of culture. Explants were productively infected with BHV-1 and typical, dose dependent, cytopathic changes were observed in response to infection. Regulation of TNF-alpha gene expression in uninfected explants varied over time and was region-specific but there was significant down-regulation of TNF-alpha gene expression at 2h post-infection when compared to uninfected controls at the same time point. Taking caveats into consideration the BIVOC system shows promise as a tool for analysis of immediate or early events in host-pathogen interaction.

Experiments were performed to determine whether visna/maedi virus (VMV), a small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV), could infect sheep via ocular tissues. The EV1 strain of VMV was administered into the conjunctival space of uninfected sheep, and the animals monitored for the presence of provirus DNA and anti-VMV antibodies in blood. The results showed that provirus DNA appeared in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of all animals within a few weeks of receiving either 10(6) TCID50 or 10(3) TCID50 of VMV. Of the animals receiving the higher dose of virus via the conjunctival space, two seroconverted by 7 and 10 weeks post-infection, one seroconverted 8 months post-infection, and one had not seroconverted by 15 months post-infection. With the lower virus dose, the animals infected via the trachea seroconverted by 4 and 14 weeks, respectively. After ocular infection with this dose, one animal showed a transitory seroconversion with low levels of antibody, peaking at 2 weeks post-administration. The remaining three of the animals infected via the eyes did not seroconvert over a period of 13 months. At post-mortem, evidence for the presence of proviral DNA was obtained from ocular tissue, lungs or mediastinal lymph node in both groups of animals. Histological analysis of lung tissue from animals receiving the lower dose of virus showed the presence of early inflammatory lesions. The results thus show for the first time that transmission of VMV can occur via ocular tissues, suggesting that the conjunctival space may be an additional route of natural transmission.

A novel screening approach based on insertion-duplication mutagenesis (IDM) was established to efficiently screen for essential genes of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium under laboratory conditions. Small, randomly generated genomic fragments were cloned into a conditionally replicating vector, and the resulting library of single Salmonella clones was grown under permissive conditions. Upon switching to non-permissive temperature, discrimination between lethal and non-lethal insertions following homologous recombination allowed the trapping of genes with essential functions. Further characterization of a total of 498 fragments resulting in such lethal knockout revealed 145 known essential genes and 112 functionally characterized or hypothetical genes not yet shown to encode essential genes, among them three Salmonella-specific genes. The essentiality was demonstrated for a prioritised set of 15 putative indispensable genes by creating conditional lethal phenotypes. The results of this large-scale screening indicate that in rich media, the class of Salmonella genes indispensable for growth is composed of approximately 490 genes.