HOME HYGIENE: A GROWING CONCERN ACROSS EUROPE

The 6th meeting of the IFH Scientific Advisory Board took place this April in Bonn. The meeting immediately followed the 8th Congress of the Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine on March 29-31 2000 in Bonn, entitled ' Hygiene and Health Protection: Growing Challenges to the Protection of World Health in the 21 Century'. The IFH's Professor Martin Exner, as Director of the Hygiene-Institut der Universität Bonn, was a host, organiser and speaker for this exciting event.

Together with two other members of the IFH Scientific Advisory Board, Sally Bloomfield and Professor Nath, Professor Exner spoke on the subject of hygiene in public and private settings - one of the three areas of focus for the congress. Professor Bloomfield presented a risk approach to home hygiene, while Professor Nath discussed environmental hygiene in India and its relation to the domestic setting.

After a weekend of respite, the scientific advisory board gathered for the 6th IFH meeting during which they consolidated and finalised consensus work undertaken in 1999, the fruits of which will soon be seen within the web site library. Guest speaker, Dr Katie Deverell, gave an fascinating account of her field research on sociology, psychology and resistance to behavioural change in hygiene practise in the home setting, part of a project with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This new area of investigation was then discussed by the board as a highly relevant topic for future IFH work. Plans for 2000, which include a web discussion forum and the IFH conference, were also discussed.

APIC: A FOCUS ON HOME HYGIENE in the usa
The topic of hygiene and hygiene practice in home settings is on the agenda at several meetings of the Association for Infection Control Professional (APIC) in the USA this year.

At the Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting in Minneapolis in June, Elizabeth Scott (IFH) will be presenting a paper on Hygiene Issues in Home and Community Settings. Following this meeting, the Post-conference on Disinfection, Antisepsis and Sterilization includes the following presentations: The Use of Antimicrobials in the Home: Benefits and Concerns (Elizabeth Scott, IFH), The Survival of Microbes on Animate and Inanimate Surfaces and the Importance of Surface Disinfection (Syed Sattar, University of Ottawa) and The Relationship Between the Use of Antiseptics/Disinfectants and the Development of Antimicrobial Resistance (Charles Gerba, University of Arizona). See www.apic.org for more info.

In October, at St. Louis, Missouri, there will be a conference on Home Care Infection Control, sponsored by the Missouri Alliance for Home Care (MAHC) in collaboration with APIC. With the growing trend toward nursing patients at home in the USA and with some 8 million patients now being nursed at home, this is a very timely meeting. 
Write to MAHC, 2420 Hyde Park Rd Suite A, Jefferson City, MO 65109 USA for more information, or visit www.apic.org