Biofilms in Infection Prevention and Control A Healthcare Handbook

Biofilms in Infection and Disease Control: A Healthcare Handbook outlines the scientific evidence and rationale for the prevention of infection, the role biofilms play in infection control, and the issues concerning their resistance to antimicrobials. This book provides practical guidance for healthcare and infection control professionals, as well as students, for preventing and controlling infection.

Biofilms are the most common mode of bacterial growth in nature. Highly resistant to antibiotics and antimicrobials, biofilms are the source of more than 65 percent of health care associated infections (HCAI), which, according to the WHO, affect 1.4 million people annually. Biofilms are involved in 80 percent of all microbial infections in the body, including those associated with medical devices such as catheters, endotracheal tubes, joint prostheses, and heart valves. Biofilms are also the principle causes of infections of the middle-ear, dental caries, gingivitis, prostatitis and cystic fibrosis. Importantly, biofilms also significantly delay wound healing and reduce antimicrobial efficiency in at-risk or infected skin wounds.

SECTION 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF INFECTION CONTROL 1. Introduction to Infection and Prevention 2. Infection Prevention: Principles of Safe Practice in Healthcare 3. Hand Hygiene 4. Decontamination 5. Challenges to Healthcare Providers 6. Changing Practice 7. Introduction to Invasive Devices

SECTION 2: BIOFILMS AND INFECTION CONTROL 8. Introduction to Biofilms 9. Biofilm Control and Resistance in the Healthcare Setting or Biofilms and HAI 10. Biofilms and infection control in Intravascular Catheters 11. Biofilms and Endotracheal Tubes 12. Antimicrobial Chemotherapy: Significance to Healthcare 13. Biofilms and Recalcitrance 14. Microbial Resistance and Superbugs 15. Preventing Infection Associated with Urethral Catheter Biofilms 16. Hospital Water Supplies and Biofilm Control 17. Preventing Wound Infection and Biofilms

infections control professionals, postgraduate students in medicine, biology, health, microbiology, healthcare professionals.

Certificate in Education, diploma in Business Administration, an MSc in Public Health and an MSc in Medical and Molecular

Microbiology. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science and Institute of Biology. Early in his career, Steven held R&D positions for over 3 years at The British Textile Technology Group Plc, followed then by 6 years as a senior university lecturer in medical microbiology and later the positions of Chief Scientific Officer and Director of R and D at Aseptica, Inc., and senior clinical fellowships at the Centers for Disease Control,

Atlanta, and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, Leeds, United Kingdom. More recently, Steven held senior R&D manager positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, ConvaTec, Advanced Medical Solutions PLC and also held an honorary Professorship of Microbiology at West Virginia University. In

2011, Steven joined ScapaHealthcare PLC as Vice President of Global Healthcare R&D and was awarded an honorary Professorship at The University of Liverpool, UK. He has written over 260 scientific publications and conference abstracts on water microbiology, biofilms, antimicrobials, and infection control and has authored or edited six textbooks on biofilms and microbiology and provided over 100 presentations on biofilms and public health worldwide.
Dr. Williams currently leads the Oral Microbiology Group based at the School of Dentistry, at Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. Since Dr. Williams’ first degree (Cardiff University), he has worked in the pharmaceutical industry, food microbiology and as an academic researcher. Having completed a PhD at the School of Dentistry in Cardiff on the immunopathogenesis of oral candidosis, Dr. Williams’ research has continued within Cardiff University and primarily focuses within the field of Clinical Microbiology with an emphasis on studies involving micro

• Provides specific procedures for controlling and preventing infection
• Includes case studies of HCAI, and identifies appropriate treatments
• Presents national government standards for infection prevention and control
• Includes extensive references and links to websites for further information