Hygiene, Volume 2, Issue 2 (June 2022) – 3 articles

This systematic review aimed to sum up the evidence gathered by molecular biology methods on the transmission of bacterial clones from sinks/sink drains environmental sources to intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Forty-five reports meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria were identified. Most were retrospective cohort studies on Gram negative multidrug resistant bacteria, with P. aeruginosa and S. marcescens being the most frequent species (26.7% and 17.8% of the studies, respectively). The reports using pulse field gel electrophoresis were the most numerous (44.4%) and found a common clone between clinical and sink/sink drains isolates in 80% of the cases. Over the last 5 years, the use of whole genome sequencing became more frequent and linked sink/sink drains isolates to clinical ones in 50% of the cases. Precise positivity timelines mostly pointed towards a patient-to-sink/sink drain transmission while only 8 reports provided back up for the sink/sink drain-to-patient. To better appraise the role of sinks/sink drains as a reservoir for nosocomial acquisition of bacteria in ICU, future reports should strive to give a precise timeline for the retrieval of isolates as well as the cut-off criteria used to assign isolates to a given clone (information lacking in 66.7% and 42.2% of the studies, respectively). Full article

Diabetes and periodontal disease share the same inflammatory pattern. Both these pathologies, if left untreated, lead to a cytokine storm that carries pro-inflammatory factors throughout the body. Periodontitis has recently been assumed to be the sixth complication of diabetes and the latest studies suggest a biunivocal connection between these two conditions. Most recent evidence-based studies propose that having a controlled periodontal situation with proper and timely therapy could improve glycemic management in diabetic patients. In order to provide the newest findings on this topic, a systematic literature research was performed on PubMed following the PRISMA statement. The keywords used were: “Diabetes; Periodontitis; Non-surgical periodontal therapy”. Only free full texts and abstracts in English were enrolled considering a time range of the last 10 years, from 2011 to 2021. A total of 308 studies arose from the first search, and only 73 were strictly related to our topic, while 235 were excluded. The bidirectional link between diabetes and periodontitis is well known. To the best of our knowledge, in the last 10 years there is increasing evidence that non-surgical periodontal treatment is associated with improved glycemic control. Further studies are needed to empower this relation. Full article

The hygienic practices of mothers during complementary food feeding are crucial in the protection of vulnerable infants and children aged 6–24 months from childhood communicable diseases such as diarrhea and malnutrition. However, sufficient evidence on the hygienic practices of mothers during complementary food feeding and their associated factors is limited. Thus, this study is aimed at assessing the levels of complementary feeding hygiene practice and its associated factors among mothers of children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie District, Northwest Ethiopia. Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 17 March to 17 April 2021, among 576 mothers with children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie District, Northwest Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire, then entered into Epi Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with outcome variables, and variables with p-values of <0.05 in the final models were considered statistically significant. Result: The prevalence of hygienic practice during complementary food feeding of their children aged 6–24 months was 33.6%, with 95% (CI 29.7% to 37.6%) of them having good practice. Living in an urban area (AOR = 7.02, 95% CI: (4.14, 11.88)), the presence of a handwashing facility near the latrine (AOR = 3.02, 95% CI: (1.18, 7.70)), the presence of a separate area to store raw and cooked foods (AOR = 5.87, 95% CI: (2.84, 12.13)), and the presence of a three-compartment dish washing system (AOR = 5.70, 95%,CI: (3.41, 9.54)) were predictors of practicing good hygienic complementary food feeding. The prevalence of good hygienic practices during complementary feeding among mothers was low. The district health office and health extension workers should work to improve maternal hygienic practices during complementary feeding. Full article