Sinks in ICU Patient Rooms. Lower numbers of sinks equals lower infection rates?

In this episode, Martin talks to Giovanni-Battista Fucini about a recent paper from Germany that examined infection rates in critical care in which it was reported that hospitals without sinks in patient rooms have lower infection rates. Newer hospitals in Germany tend not to have sinks in the patient rooms in ICU.

The paper we discuss is here:

Giovanni-Battista, F., C. Geffers, F. Schwab, M. Behnke, W. Sunder, J. Moellmann & P. Gastmeier (2023) Sinks in patient rooms in the ICU are associated with higher rates of hospital-acquired infections. A retrospective analysis of 552 ICUs. J Hosp Infect, 10.1016/j.jhin.2023.05.018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2023.05.018

Other papers of interest are:

• Kotay, S. M., H. I. Parikh, K. Barry, H. S. Gweon, W. Guilford, J. Carroll & A. J. Mathers (2020) Nutrients influence the dynamics of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase producing enterobacterales in transplanted hospital sinks. Water Res, 176, 115707. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32224328
• Constantinides, B., K. K. Chau, T. P. Quan, G. Rodger, M. I. Andersson, K. Jeffery, S. Lipworth, H. S. Gweon, A. Peniket, G. Pike, J. Millo, M. Byukusenge, M. Holdaway, C. Gibbons, A. J. Mathers, D. W. Crook, T. E. A. Peto, A. S. Walker & N. Stoesser (2020) Genomic surveillance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. in hospital sink drains and patients. Microb Genom, 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32553019
• Mathers, A. J., K. Vegesana, I. German Mesner, K. E. Barry, A. Pannone, J. Baumann, D. W. Crook, N. Stoesser, S. Kotay, J. Carroll & C. D. Sifri (2018) Intensive Care Unit Wastewater Interventions to Prevent Transmission of Multispecies Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Organisms. Clin Infect Dis, 67, 171-178. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29409044
• Grabowski, M., J. M. Lobo, B. Gunnell, K. Enfield, R. Carpenter, L. Barnes & A. J. Mathers (2018) Characterizations of handwashing sink activities in a single hospital medical intensive care unit. J Hosp Infect, 100, e115-e122. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29738784
• Kotay, S., W. Chai, W. Guilford, K. Barry & A. J. Mathers (2017) Spread from the Sink to the Patient: In Situ Study Using Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-Expressing Escherichia coli To Model Bacterial Dispersion from Hand-Washing Sink-Trap Reservoirs. Appl Environ Microbiol, 83. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28235877
• Garvey, M. I., N. Williams, A. Gardiner, C. Ruston, M. A. C. Wilkinson, M. Kiernan, J. T. Walker & E. Holden (2023) The sink splash zone. J Hosp Infect, 135, 154-156. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36870392