A novel wall-mounted far ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light technology providing automated delivery of far UV-C only when people are not present reduced methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a patient room and equipment room. The safety feature that discontinues far UV-C output when people are detected was effective in preventing far UV-C exposure.

A wall-mounted far ultraviolet-C light device used for continuous air and surface decontamination in a dental office reduced aerosolized bacteriophage MS2 and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on steel disks by >3 log10 in 2 hours in unshaded areas in a procedure room. Far ultraviolet-C delivery was substantially reduced in shaded areas.

Background: The recent worldwide outbreak of Mpox virus infections has raised concern about the potential for nosocomial acquisition during handling of contaminated bedding or clothing. We conducted simulations to test the hypothesis that decontamination of bedding prior to handling could reduce the risk for contamination of personnel. Methods: We conducted a crossover trial to test the effectiveness of spraying contaminated bedding with a hydrogen peroxide disinfectant in reducing contamination of personnel during handling of the contaminated bedding. Bedding was contaminated on top and bottom surfaces with aerosolized bacteriophage MS2. Personnel (N = 10) wearing a cover gown and gloves removed the bedding from a patient bed and placed it into a hamper both with and without prior hydrogen peroxide spray decontamination. After handling the bedding, samples were collected to assess viral contamination of gloves, cover gown, neck or chest, and hands or wrists. Results: Contamination of the gloves and cover gown of personnel occurred frequently during handling of bedding and 20% of participants had contamination of their hands or wrists and neck after the simulation (Fig.). Decontamination of the bedding reduced contamination of the gloves and eliminated contamination of the cover gown, hands or wrists, or neck. Conclusion: Decontamination of bedding prior to handling could be an effective strategy to reduce the risk for nosocomial acquisition of Mpox by healthcare personnel.

Disclosures: None

A wall-mounted, far-ultraviolet-C light technology reduced aerosolized bacteriophage MS2 by >3 log10 plaque-forming units within 30 minutes. Vegetative bacterial pathogens on steel disk carriers in the center of the room were reduced by >3 log10 after 45 minutes of exposure, but Candida auris and Clostridioides difficile spores were not.

Contaminated shoes are a potential vector for dissemination of healthcare-associated pathogens. We demonstrated that healthcare personnel walking into patient rooms frequently transferred pathogens from their shoes to the floor. An 8-second treatment of shoes with a UV-C decontamination device significantly reduced the frequency of transfer of vegetative bacterial pathogens.

Objectives: Previous research has demonstrated an association between emotion recognition and apathy in several neurological conditions involving fronto-striatal pathology, including Parkinson’s disease and brain injury. In line with these findings, we aimed to determine whether apathetic participants with early Huntington’s disease (HD) were more impaired on an emotion recognition task compared to non-apathetic participants and healthy controls. Methods: We included 43 participants from the TRACK-HD study who reported apathy on the Problem Behaviours Assessment – short version (PBA-S), 67 participants who reported no apathy, and 107 controls matched for age, sex, and level of education. During their baseline TRACK-HD visit, participants completed a battery of cognitive and psychological tests including an emotion recognition task, the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale (HADS) and were assessed on the PBA-S. Results: Compared to the non-apathetic group and the control group, the apathetic group were impaired on the recognition of happy facial expressions, after controlling for depression symptomology on the HADS and general disease progression (Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale total motor score). This was despite no difference between the apathetic and non-apathetic group on overall cognitive functioning assessed by a cognitive composite score. Conclusions: Impairment of the recognition of happy expressions may be part of the clinical picture of apathy in HD. While shared reliance on frontostriatal pathways may broadly explain associations between emotion recognition and apathy found across several patient groups, further work is needed to determine what relationships exist between recognition of specific emotions, distinct subtypes of apathy and underlying neuropathology. (JINS, 2019, 25, 453–461)

Background: Psychological therapy services are often required to demonstrate their effectiveness and are implementing systematic monitoring of patient progress. A system for measuring patient progress might usefully ‘inform supervision’ and help patients who are not progressing in therapy. Aims: To examine if continuous monitoring of patient progress through the supervision process was more effective in improving patient outcomes compared with giving feedback to therapists alone in routine NHS psychological therapy. Method: Using a stepped wedge randomized controlled design, continuous feedback on patient progress during therapy was given either to the therapist and supervisor to be discussed in clinical supervison (MeMOS condition) or only given to the therapist (S-Sup condition). If a patient failed to progress in the MeMOS condition, an alert was triggered and sent to both the therapist and supervisor. Outcome measures were completed at beginning of therapy, end of therapy and at 6-month follow-up and session-by-session ratings. Results: No differences in clinical outcomes of patients were found between MeMOS and S-Sup conditions. Patients in the MeMOS condition were rated as improving less, and more ill. They received fewer therapy sessions. Conclusions: Most patients failed to improve in therapy at some point. Patients’ recovery was not affected by feeding back outcomes into the supervision process. Therapists rated patients in the S-Sup condition as improving more and being less ill than patients in MeMOS. Those patients in MeMOS had more complex problems.

The ESEN (European Sero-Epidemiology Network) project was established to harmonize the seroepidemiology of five vaccine preventable infections including measles, mumps and rubella in eight European countries. This involved achieving comparability both in the assay results from testing in different centres and also sampling methodology. Standardization of enzyme immunoassay results was achieved through the development of common panels of sera by designated reference centres. The panels were tested at the reference laboratory and then distributed to each participating laboratory for testing using their routine methods. Standardization equations were calculated by regressing the quantitative results against those of the reference laboratory. Our study found large differences in unitage between participants, despite all using an EIA method standardized against an international or local standard. Moreover, our methodology adjusted for this difference. These standardization equations will be used to convert the results of main serosurvey testing into the reference country unitage to ensure inter-country comparability.