THE IFH MAKE HEADWAY: CONSENSUS REACHED AT THE 5th MEETING

Following another successful meeting, the IFH are pleased to announce further progress; the introduction of a new member to the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), agreement to proceed with publication of three new consensus papers, and additions to the web site. At the beginning of May, in the beautiful surroundings of Stresa, by Lago Maggiore in Italy, the 5th meeting of the IFH Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) was held, taking the opportunity to welcome Professor KJ Nath who had travelled all the way from Calcutta, India to participate. We are delighted that Professor Nath, Director at the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, has subsequently accepted an invitation to become a full member of the SAB. His biography and publication list has been added to the web site.

IFH Consensus
With a view to preparing further keynote papers, the IFH tackled two new issues and during long and lively debates succeeded in reaching consensus on both. The first area addressed current concerns about antimicrobial resistance with particular reference to the use of biocides. A consensus statement on this subject is now available in our new IFH Home Hygiene Library and will be followed by a more detailed review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature which forms the basis for this statement. Secondly, the issue of hygiene procedures in the home and their effectiveness was discussed with the aim of developing targeted recommendations. This paper will be added to the site in two stages, a literature review, followed at a later stage by the detailed consensus recommendations.

New pages on the site
As mentioned above, our site has now grown to contain the IFH Home Hygiene Library. This library section serves to gather in one place the IFH consensus papers together with the most recent literature relating to development of the science and practice of hygiene in the domestic setting. The Home Hygiene Library is FREE and can be accessed by filling the registration form to receive a password. If you have already registered, you will receive the password by email.
The website also now contains a page giving information about the IFH Associate Membership Program. Through this program we are aiming to establish a network of hygiene scientists and professionals with a particular focus on the domestic environment. Please mention that you are interested in becoming an associate member of the IFH in the comments box of the registration form when you access the library or send us a comment.

Conference update
The conference and links listings have been updated and we would like to draw your attention to two European conferences recommended by our Scientific Advisory Board.
Food Micro ‘99 in Veldhoven, the Netherlands on 13-17 September will include a presentation entitled, Pathogens in Domestic Kitchens: Facts and Fiction given by IFH Scientific Advisory Board Member, Dr Rijkelt Beumer. He is also one of four authors of a poster which addresses the microbiological safety of food leftovers. Food Micro ‘99 is the 17th International Conference of the International Committee on Food Microbiology and Hygiene (ICFMH) and will include more than 100 oral presentations, almost 400 poster presentations, several workshops and a trade exhibition. More information is available on the home page.
On the 11-14 of October 1999, the University of Regensburg will host the annual meeting of the German Society Hygiene & Microbiology (DGHM – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie). This conference will cover many topics in the prevention, pathology and treatment of infectious disease.
The recent Annual General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology was the first large scale meeting at which the IFH Guidelines have been presented. Information about the session on home hygiene can be found in the News Item for March. A report by Professor Bloomfield, who attended the symposium is presented here:

Current Topics in Home Hygiene: The IFH at the ASM
The 99th General Meeting of the American Society of Microbiology (ASM), held in Chicago from May 30 to June 3 this year, featured a symposium entitled: Current Topics in Home Hygiene. The speakers included Dr Joan Rose, University of South Florida, Dr Ian Pepper and Dr Charles Gerba, University of Arizona, Dr Syed A. Sattar, University of Ottowa and Dr Elizabeth Scott, a member of the IFH Scientific Advisory Board. The meeting covered a number of topics including survival of enteric pathogens during laundering, hand hygiene, the use of hard-surface disinfectant products and concerns related to microbial resistance to disinfectants. All of the presenters reflected on how hygiene in the domestic setting is now clearly seen as an important contributor to infectious disease control and the ways in which demographic and social changes continue to emphasise the need for a greater focus in this area. A particularly novel presentation was that of Dr Joan Rose who is developing the use of risk assessment techniques to estimate the potential reduction in infection risks associated with the application of hygiene procedures in the domestic setting. The use of risk assessment in developing guidelines for hygiene in the domestic setting, and the need for a structured approach such as this was discussed by Dr Scott. She announced the recent launch of the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene, explaining that this was the first group to produce guidelines for the control of infection in the domestic setting.