01) Situation report on infection control guidelines and practices in Nigerian hospitals
In Nigeria, data on hospital-associated infections (HAI), antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are scarce. The aim of this study is to establish a surveillance protocol suited for the low-resource setting and to carry out a pilot study. HAI definitions were adapted from the European Centre for Disease Control and the German hospital-infection-surveillance-system (KISS).
Data collection included the hospital infrastructure, device use, antimicrobial consumption and HAI from one ICU and one non-ICU each in six Nigerian tertiary hospitals. Data were stored in a REDCap database. During the same period, compliance with hand hygiene was assessed in the study wards using WHO methods. Data collectors were trained in three consecutive online training sessions. The preparation of the study was challenging due to blackouts, connection problems, the political and the financial situation.
02) Focus group discussions – Hand hygiene
Through focus group discussions and expert input, the communication component of the project examined the intricate socio-cultural and socio-economic barriers contributing to the longstanding suboptimal effectiveness of hand hygiene interventions in hospitals in northern-southern Nigeria from the six geopolitical Nigerian regions and their local settings.
It identified pseudo-reasons and pseudo-solutions that perpetuate the cycle of inefficiency, as well as communication strategies to promote locally-derived interventions.
03) Umbrella review on BSI and SSI interventions
Two systematic literature reviews are being prepared to assess the effectiveness of infection control (IC) interventions on surgical site infections (SSI) and bloodstream infections (BSI). Therefore, artificial intelligence tools will be applied. Subsequently, these IC interventions will be evaluated by their feasibility, acceptability, potential impact, sustainability and affordability in different LMIC settings.
Carolin Hackmann, Luisa Denkel, Petra Gastmeier, Christiane Dolecek, Elinor Harriss, Ben Cooper Friederike Maechler. Effectiveness of interventions to prevent surgical site infections - an umbrella review. PROSPERO 2022 CRD42022343618
Luisa Denkel, Carolin Hackmann, Elinor Harriss, Dolecek Christiane, Ben Cooper, Petra Gastmeier, Friederike Maechler. Effectiveness of interventions to prevent healthcare-associated bloodstream infections - an umbrella review. PROSPERO 2022 CRD42022343483
04) Hand hygiene community experiment
Randomised experiment to test response to informational messages promoting hand hygiene: This study aims to explore the likely impact of informational messages about hand hygiene on hand hygiene behaviour in different situations and across diverse economic and cultural contexts. It also aims to understand whether informational messages about handwashing and sanitizing hands are likely to be more effective if the messaging includes references to COVID-19.
The study involves samples of residents from ~18 countries (high-, low- and middle-income) who will be selected to represent the population distribution on key socioeconomic variables; age; gender; income; education; and region. In each country, respondents will be interviewed via an anonymous online survey. Respondents will be randomised into three equal groups to receive three different informational messages. Following the informational message, respondents will be asked: “Would you like some tips on how best to wash your hands ? If so, please click on the link below.
The primary outcome measures are based on whether respondents click on this link. We consider this to indicate a level of intent to at least consider trying to improve hand hygiene.