BACKGROUND: Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a major threat to patient safety and quality care. However, they are avoidable by implementing evidence-based infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. This review evaluated the evidence of the effectiveness of IPC interventions in reducing rates of HAIs in health care settings in Africa.
METHODS: We searched several databases: CENTRAL, EMBASE, PUBMED, CINAHL, WHO IRIS, and AJOL for primary studies reporting rates of the 4 most frequent HAIs: surgical site infections, central line--associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated pneumoniae, and increase in hand hygiene compliance. Two reviewers appraised the studies and PRISMA guidelines were followed.
RESULTS: Out of 4,624 studies identified from databases and additional sources, 15 studies were finally included in the review. The majority of studies were of pre- and post-test study design. All the studies implemented a combination of interventions and not as stand-alone components. Across all included studies, an improvement was reported in at least 1 primary outcome.
CONCLUSIONS: Our review highlights the potential of IPC interventions in reducing HAIs and improving compliance with hand hygiene in health care facilities in Africa. For future research, we recommend more pragmatic study designs with improved methodological rigor.

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\"Train-the-Trainers in hand hygiene\" (TTT) is a standardized training to train infection prevention and control (IPC) practitioners with the aim to promote hand hygiene in health care according to the World Health Organization (WHO) multimodal improvement strategy. Little is known in the literature about the sustained impact of hand hygiene and IPC trainings adapted locally. The aim of this study is to describe the impact of three TTT courses conducted annually in Japan on the adoption of the WHO multimodal improvement strategy by local IPC practitioners who became a \"trainer\" after their first TTT participation as a \"trainee\".
Three TTT courses were conducted annually from 2020 to 2022 in Japan. A team \"TTT-Japan\" composed of more than 20 IPC practitioners who completed their first TTT participation adapted the original TTT program to reflect the local healthcare context in Japan, and subsequently convened the 2nd and 3rd TTTs. Pre- and post-course evaluations and post-course satisfaction surveys of the course participants were conducted to assess improvement in knowledge on hand hygiene and perception towards the course, respectively. Attitude and practice surveys of the TTT-Japan trainers were conducted to assess their perception and experience in hand hygiene promotion. The Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework (HHSAF), a validated tool created by WHO to monitor the capacity of hand hygiene promotion at facility level, was applied at TTT-Japan trainers\' facilities to compare results before and after trainers\' engagement. We applied inductive thematic analysis for qualitative analyses of open-ended survey questions of the trainers\' attitude and practice surveys, and the Wilcoxon Sign Rank test for quantitive comparisons of pre- and post-data for the surveys and HHSAF.
158 Japanese healthcare workers participated in three TTT courses, the majority of whom (131, 82.9%) were nurses. Twenty-seven local trainers were involved in 2nd and 3rd TTTs. The scores of pre- and post-course evaluations significantly improved after the course (P < 0.001) and the improvement was consistent across all three TTTs. Post-course satisfaction survey showed that over 90% of the participants reported that the course met their expectations and that what they learned in the courses would be useful for their practice. Trainers\' attitude and practice survey showed that more than three quarters (76.9%) of the trainers reported that their experience as a trainer had a positive impact on their practice at their own facilities. Qualitative analysis of the trainers\' attitude and practice survey revealed that trainers appreciated continuous learning as a trainer, and group effort to promote hand hygiene as the TTT-Japan team. The HHSAF institutional climate change element at the trainers\' facilities significantly improved after their engagement as a trainer (P = 0.012).
TTTs were successfully adapted and implemented in Japan, leading to sustained hand hygiene promotion activities by local trainers over three years. Further research is warranted to assess the long-term impact on local hand hygiene promotion in different settings.

The ProCCard study tested whether combining several cardioprotective interventions would reduce the myocardial and other biological and clinical damage in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
Prospective, randomized, controlled trial.
Multicenter tertiary care hospitals.
210 patients scheduled to undergo aortic valve surgery.
A control group (standard of care) was compared to a treated group combining five perioperative cardioprotective techniques: anesthesia with sevoflurane, remote ischemic preconditioning, close intraoperative blood glucose control, moderate respiratory acidosis (pH 7.30) just before aortic unclamping (concept of the \"pH paradox\"), and gentle reperfusion just after aortic unclamping.
The primary outcome was the postoperative 72-h area under the curve (AUC) for high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hsTnI). Secondary endpoints were biological markers and clinical events occurring during the 30 postoperative days and the prespecified subgroup analyses. The linear relationship between the 72-h AUC for hsTnI and aortic clamping time, significant in both groups (p < 0.0001), was not modified by the treatment (p = 0.57). The rate of adverse events at 30 days was identical. A non-significant reduction of the 72-h AUC for hsTnI (-24%, p = 0.15) was observed when sevoflurane was administered during cardiopulmonary bypass (46% of patients in the treated group). The incidence of postoperative renal failure was not reduced (p = 0.104).
This multimodal cardioprotection has not demonstrated any biological or clinical benefit during cardiac surgery. The cardio- and reno-protective effects of sevoflurane and remote ischemic preconditioning therefore remain to be demonstrated in this context.

OBJECTIVE: Hand hygiene (HH) is the simplest and most effective measure for the prevention of infection related to healthcare. Despite this, compliance in healthcare professionals continues to be suboptimal. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of an expanded World Health Organization (WHO) multimodal strategy on HH compliance in healthcare personnel.
METHODS: A quasi-experimental before-after study was designed, carrying out the expanded WHO multimodal strategy in 2018, aimed at professionals in a tertiary hospital. In this strategy, apart from applying the 5 pillars of the WHO, a video was made, the administration of the WHO perceptions questionnaire and an incentive to the service/unit with better compliance, adding to the training a modality of practical workshops. The compliance percentages for 2017 and 2018 were compared.
RESULTS: In 2017, 1056 opportunities were observed, registering 631 HH actions, with global compliance of 60% (95% CI 56.7-62.7). In 2018, with 1481 opportunities observed and 1111 HH actions, compliance was 75% (95% CI 72.7-77.2) (P<.001). This compliance increased in all professional categories and in all indications.
CONCLUSIONS: The application of an expanded multimodal strategy has a positive impact on HH compliance. Strategies should be directed to the categories with the worst compliance and continuously over time.

A multimodal strategy to prevent nosocomial influenza was implemented in 2015-2016 in Grenoble Alpes University Hospital. Three modalities were implemented in all units: promotion of vaccination among healthcare workers, epidemiologic surveillance and communication campaigns. Units receiving a high number of patients with influenza implemented 2 additional modalities: improvement of diagnosis capacities and systematic surgical mask use. The main objective was to assess the effectiveness of the strategy for reducing the risk of nosocomial influenza.
A study was conducted retrospectively investigating 5 epidemic seasons (2014-2015 to 2018-2019) including all patients hospitalized with a positive influenza test at Grenoble Alpes University Hospital. The weekly number of nosocomial influenza cases was analyzed by Poisson regression and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were estimated.
A total of 1540 patients, resulting in 1559 stays, were included. There was no significant difference between the 5 influenza epidemic seasons in the units implementing only 3 measures. In the units implementing the 5 measures, there was a reduction of nosocomial influenza over the seasons when the strategy was implemented compared to the 2014-2015 epidemic season (IRR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.23-1.34 in 2015-2016; IRR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.19-0.81 in 2016-2017; IRR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.24-1.03 in 2017-2018; IRR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.23-0.97 in 2018-2019).
Our data mainly suggested that the application of the strategy with 5 modalities, including systematic surgical mask use and rapid diagnosis, seemed to reduce by half the risk of nosocomial influenza. Further data, including medico-economic studies, are necessary to determine the opportunity of extending these measures at a larger scale.

Objective: To implement the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) in four neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Pune, India, to improve infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. Design: In this quasi-experimental study, we implemented CUSP in four NICUs in Pune, India, to improve IPC practices in three focus areas: hand hygiene, aseptic technique for invasive procedures, and medication and intravenous fluid preparation and administration. Sites received training in CUSP methodology, formed multidisciplinary teams, and selected interventions for each focus area. Process measures included fidelity to CUSP, hand hygiene compliance, and central line insertion checklist completion. Outcome measures included the rate of healthcare-associated bloodstream infection (HA-BSI), all-cause mortality, patient safety culture, and workload. Results: A total of 144 healthcare workers and administrators completed CUSP training. All sites conducted at least 75% of monthly meetings. Hand hygiene compliance odds increased 6% per month [odds ratio (OR) 1.06 (95% CI 1.03-1.10)]. Providers completed insertion checklists for 68% of neonates with a central line; 83% of checklists were fully completed. All-cause mortality and HA-BSI rate did not change significantly after CUSP implementation. Patient safety culture domains with greatest improvement were management support for patient safety (+7.6%), teamwork within units (+5.3%), and organizational learning-continuous improvement (+4.7%). Overall workload increased from a mean score of 46.28 ± 16.97 at baseline to 65.07 ± 19.05 at follow-up (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: CUSP implementation increased hand hygiene compliance, successful implementation of a central line insertion checklist, and improvements in safety culture in four Indian NICUs. This multimodal strategy is a promising framework for low- and middle-income country healthcare facilities to reduce HAI risk in neonates.

This review provides an exploratory overview of hand hygiene compliance in sub-Saharan Africa and examines strategies to bridge the compliance gap. While there is increasing awareness on hand hygiene, empirical evidence suggests that there is no concurrent increase in correct hand hygiene practice among key populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Children, adolescents and even healthcare providers (HCPs) in sub-Saharan Africa consistently assume poor hand hygiene compliance levels resulting in negative health consequences. Faecal-oral diseases remain common among schoolchildren, leading to school absenteeism and disease-specific morbidity. Additionally, the incidence of nosocomial infections in health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa remains high, as many HCPs do not adopt good hand hygiene practice. Increased disease burden, high healthcare costs and eroding public confidence in the healthcare system are a few implications of HCPs\' poor compliance with hand hygiene. These trends underscore the inadequacies of educational approaches (cognition model) to hand hygiene promotion commonly adopted in sub-Saharan Africa. It was therefore recommended that the governments of sub-Saharan Africa should focus on promoting skill-based hygiene education which will help schoolchildren develop good hand hygiene practice as a lifelong skill. In addition, efforts should be made to implement a multimodal hand hygiene strategy in healthcare facilities in order to increase compliance by healthcare providers.
Die Übersicht gibt einen explorativen Überblick über die Einhaltung der Händehygiene in Afrika südlich der Sahara und untersucht Strategien zur Überbrückung der Compliance-Lücke.Während das Bewusstsein für die Händehygiene zunimmt, weisen empirische Daten darauf hin, dass es in den Hauptbevölkerungsgruppen in Afrika südlich der Sahara keine übereinstimmende Zunahme der korrekten Händehygiene gibt. Bei Kindern und Jugendlichen, aber auch bei Mitarbeitern in Gesundheitseinrichtungen (GE) in Afrika südlich der Sahara ist durchweg von einer schlechten Händehygiene auszugehen, was sich negativ auf die Gesundheit auswirkt. Fäkal-orale Erkrankungen treten bei Schulkindern weiterhin häufig auf, was zu Fehlzeiten und krankheitsspezifischer Morbidität führt. Darüber hinaus ist die Inzidenz nosokomialer Infektionen in Gesundheitseinrichtungen in Afrika südlich der Sahara nach wie vor hoch, da viele GE keine gute Handhygienepraxis anwenden. Erhöhte Krankheitslast, hohe Gesundheitskosten und schwindendes Vertrauen der Öffentlichkeit in das Gesundheitssystem sind nur einige Folgen der schlechten Einhaltung der Händehygiene durch die GE. Diese Trends unterstreichen die Unzulänglichkeiten der pädagogischen Ansätze (Kognitionsmodell) zur Förderung der Händehygiene in Afrika südlich der Sahara. Als Schlussfolgerung wird die Notwendigkeit einer kompetenzbasierten Hygieneausbildung abgeleitet, die Schülern helfen soll, eine gute Handhygienepraxis als lebenslange Fertigkeit zu entwickeln. Für GE steht die Umsetzung einer multimodalen Strategie im Krankenhausumfeld im Mittelpunkt, um die Compliance zu verbessern.

Hand hygiene compliance can be improved by strategies fostering collaborative efforts among healthcare workers (HCWs) through change agents. However, there is limited information about how change agents shape the social networks of work teams, and how this relates to organisational culture. The objectives of this study were to describe the influence of peer-identified change agents (PICAs) and management-selected change agents (MSCAs) on hand hygiene, perception of their leadership style by peers, and the role of the organisational culture in the process of hand hygiene promotion.
This study, stratified in pre-, during, and post-intervention periods, was conducted between February 2017 and March 2018 in two wards at a tertiary care hospital in Malaysia. Hand hygiene promotion was facilitated either by PICAs (study arm 1) or MSCAs (study arm 2), and the two wards were randomly allocated to one of the two interventions. Outcomes were: 1) perceived leadership styles of PICAs and MSCAs by staff, vocalised during question and answer sessions; 2) the social network connectedness and communication patterns between HCWs and change agents by applying social network analysis; and 3) hand hygiene leadership attributes obtained from HCWs in the post-intervention period by questionnaires.
Hand hygiene compliance in study arm 1 and study arm 2 improved by from 48% (95% CI: 44-53%) to 66% (63-69%), and from 50% (44-55%) to 65% (60-69%), respectively. There was no significant difference between the two arms. Healthcare workers perceived that PICAs lead by example, while MSCAs applied an authoritarian top-down leadership style. The organisational culture of both wards was hierarchical, with little social interaction, but strong team cohesion. Position and networks of both PICAs and MSCAs were similar and generally weaker compared to the leaders who were nominated by HCWs in the post-intervention period. Healthcare workers on both wards perceived authoritative leadership to be the most desirable attribute for hand hygiene improvement.
Despite experiencing successful hand hygiene improvement from PICAs, HCWs expressed a preference for the existing top-down leadership structure. This highlights the limits of applying leadership models that are not supported by the local organisational culture.