Aodhan Breathnach

🧵 Our #IHR_Strengthening project team works with public health institutions in Africa & Asia to better prepare for & respond to public health emergencies. Earlier this month, our #IHR_Strengthening team co-hosted a workshop with @EPHIEthiopia...

Following on from our 2023 ECCMID poster on hospital mask mandate, the peer-reviewed paper has been published. Suggests that HCW surgical mask mandate had at best a very limited effect in protecting patients after 2021 journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-… 📷

@VaniSubbarao You are right - the link is incomplete. I will edit to correct this if I can. thanks Vani!

@dublinensis I cannot actually see the article aodhan?

@RestIsPolitics @campbellclaret @RoryStewartUK What are the chances that Prigozhin will accidently fall out of a hotel window in Belarus in the next 10 days?

QUESTION REQUEST 🚨 @campbellclaret + @RoryStewartUK are recording tomorrow afternoon. What questions would you like them to answer on the pod? Reply with your submissions below - they can be timely, timeless, international or domestic👇

@AntigoneJournal I'll be honest. Asterix the Gaul and the rest of the series.

A question for our readers: what is the first book you read about the Ancient Greeks, Romans, or Ancient Mediterranean world that made you think, "This is fascinating and I want to learn more?" (We are thinking of gathering a collection of inspirational first books, old and new.)

@workhorsewire You also have to question why the UK is the only country in Europe (as far as I know...happy to be corrected) with a two year foundation programme before full registration. This is a relatively recent innovation; does it produces better doctors than elsewhere?

@dublinensis Bingo - exactly

I am deeply worried about this A pathway to being a doctor without undergraduate training... Is this what we want in the UK? #MedTwitter Is this working in any other major health system? Is this logical? theguardian.com/society/2023/m…

This painted sign looks like it should be in Ireland, but it's in Sherborne, Dorset. @irishtypography

...but one question is how easy/affordable to apply in practice: they had dedicated research scientists manning the analysers in the AMU/ASU

@RichardPollok @retep_yelir We actually did this paper in our journal club this morning. A good paper, showed that quick negative PCR results from a NPT enabled patients to be moved out of isolation; also showed value of rectal swab (compared well to faeces, but reduces delays in sample collection)...

I’d be interested in the microbiologists’ take on this @dublinensis @retep_yelir it avoids the stool sample going missing or was it ever sent

@CrisSuFe There are other options, if you have access to patients electronic notes...

@Nanespi1 @benryanwriter Hi...my observation at the time was that most (>90%) staff stopped wearing masks when the mandate was removed. But we did not formally measure or analyse this; we were looking at the global effect of the policy change.

@benryanwriter The POLICY change was the intervention. The important details that are missing? How many ppl chose to not wear a mask. My guess is that the clinical staff continued to mask up.

Mask mandates at a large London hospital during the first 10 months of Omicron (Dec 2021- Sept 2022) had no discernible effect on hospital-acquired Covid cases, a new study finds. drive.google.com/file/d/1oZ29hR…

@MerelInger @IKostenas We just studied what was available...the UK NHS mandated the universal use of surgical masks (despite their limitations), and the mandate was removed in June '22; we wanted to see if removing the mandate significantly increased the risk of nosocomial COVID.

@dublinensis @IKostenas If you don't mind me asking, why the decision to research the effect of surgical masks? SARS-CoV-2 spreads mainly by aerosol and surgical masks are only appropriate for droplet mitigation. Curious to know what efficacy would be if both proper PPE and protocol would be followed.

Mittelmässiger Journalismus - Müll! - vom @Blickch aus folgenden Gründen: Der Blick hat einen Artikel schlecht kopiert, weil er die Schwächen der Studie auslässt, obwohl diese im Artikel von dem der Blick kopiert hat erwähnt werden und wie folgt lauten: Die Autoren räumten ein,

@IKostenas Thanks. We used ordinary surgical masks. We didn't say masks were useless: we just found no difference in rates after removing the staff mask mandate. We had no data about actual adherence, but our results suggest removing mask mandates is reasonable & justified now in 2023

@dublinensis Thank you. Knowing today that Covid is airborne, a study design including indoor air might be very interesting. Since mask provides source protection, and it is not clear from your study whether & what type of mask was always (?) worn, it is a pity that a Swiss newspaper takes

#stevebarclay #JuniorDoctorsStrike Eventually (probably) there will be talks and an agreement. We should take a lesson from the Vatican: the leaders on both sides to be locked into a building, fed coffee and doughnuts, and only released after the white smoke is seen.

@IKostenas Hi there, the paper is still under review, but here is a link to the poster being shown at ECCMID. drive.google.com/file/d/120me2S…

Can you please add the link? Thank you very much @dublinensis

@RestIsPolitics @RoryStewartUK @campbellclaret The increasingly toxic political/cultural divide in American politics is very concerning. Could a good-natured podcast combining senior figures from left and right ever succeed in the USA, and who might those figures be?

QUESTIONS REQUEST 🚨 We're recording on Tuesday this week, what would you like to ask @RoryStewartUK + @campbellclaret? Timely, timeless, UK-focussed or international, reply with your questions below 👇

latimes.com/science/story/… Our study on the HCW mask mandate has generated some interest, but important not to overstate conclusions. We found that removing the HCW mask mandate in our hospital did not lead to a rise in the risk of nosocomial COVID, in a highly immune population.

@NHS_HealthEdEng Gosh where do you start. Training turned into an endless paperchase. Faceless bureaucrats moving trainees around the country like pawns on a chessboard. Cruelty and indifference masquerading as fairness. Ineffective workforce planning. They need to do much better, or be disbanded

This is the last week of HEE and we are looking back at what we have achieved over the last 10 years. Share your memories by commenting below with your memory or achievement of working for HEE using #HEE10 Find out more here: orlo.uk/eHh71 #HEE10Event

@chipmack @theJeremyVine @Hatters92 @TfL To be fair, neither does the bus.

WHAT. THE. HELL. This morning, 0620, watch this bus pass me. LK17 AFF, the 243 heading east on Theobalds Road. So how do I report this, @TfL?