Innovative approaches to understand and control contagion in hospital

Team 9 of UMR D-258, Microbes, Evolution, Phylogénie et Infection (MEPHI)
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)

Team leaders
  • BROUQUI Philippe
Team members
  • MONNET-CORTI Virginie
  • BADIAGA Sekene
  • TISSOT-DUPONT Herve
  • BOUDJEMA Sophia
  • DUFOUR J.Charles
  • REGNIER Isabelle
  • BERNARD Francoise

Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI), still hold a sad record of several thousand cases and death yearly in France. The technological advance of this millennium must be used to fight these infections. Failure to hand hygiene is one of the major causes of the transmission of nosocomial infections, excess laying of venous and urinary catheter are responsible for fatal bacteremia, and finally the isolation of patients plays a major role in transmission within hospitals.

The project is to:

Task A /Technology R&D

1-Develop innovative technology (RFID, computerized imaging, localization system, Infrared image sensor, impulse-radio (IR) ultra-wideband radar , PDA, alarm and reminders…) to monitor and improve hand hygiene and reduce the HAI ratio in hospital.
2-Develop innovative technology (UHF smart catheter or similar) to track venous and urinary catheter to avoid unnecessary use and to promote ASAP removal.
3-Develop technology to identified ASAP contagious person by automatic no-touch fever control remote technology (IR camera, photoplethysmography), and high technology clinical examination caption–sensor wearing of patient

Task B /Social and behavioral science

4-Analyze factors for transmission by Sociopatern® networking in interaction with microbiology
5-invest HWC and patient behavior to understand but also to measure behavioral changes facing new technology

Task C /Clinical science and trials

6-Develop clinical trails to shorten patients contagion by the use of innovative treatment protocols in order to shorten in hospital stay and allow adapted care for patient in need
7-Develop clinical trails of innovative technologie for remote fever monitoring

Task D /Dissemination

8- Run steering committee of European networks of clinicians on preparedness to emerging outbreak

This team is a transversal multidisciplinary team (epidemiology, clinical science, microbiology, biostatistics, medical information system, human and social science and anthropology, communication and cognitive psychological approaches) and is based on several collaborations with other team from. It involves also technological research and development with the Startup MedihandTrace SAS. Research questions are going from basic science and proof of concept to development of technology, behavioral study of HWC and patient facing these new technologies and clinical and/or therapeutically trials. Starting 2011 this is a new activity (for the leader) explained by the need and the sudden opportunity to solves public health questions ( hand hygiene, catheter….) with the aid of technology but with the same goal of understanding HCW behaviours and researching the mean to modifed these behaviour. This research is funded by ANR Grant Program CE36 2015-18 MHT 300K€ and by APRF KT Trace 2016-2019 318 K€

  • 2003-2007 : European networks for infectious diseases (EUNID)
  • 2009-2013 : European network for highly infectious disease (EuroNHID ) (Steering committee)
  • 2015- today : European Epidemic and Biological Risk Clinical Coordination (EBRC) Network (Steering committee)

Top publications

  1. Brouqui P, Boudjema S, et al. New Approaches to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2017 Aug 15;65
  2. Brouqui P, Puro V, Fusco FM, Bannister B, Schilling S, Follin P, Gottschalk R, Hemmer R, Maltezou HC, Ott K, Peleman R, Perronne C, Sheehan G, Siikamäki H, Skinhoj P, Ippolito G; EUNID Working Group. Infection control in the management of highly pathogenic infectious diseases: consensus of the European Network of Infectious Disease. Lancet Infect Dis. 2009 May;9(5):301-11.
  3. Dufour JC, Reynier P, Boudjema S, Soto Aladro A, Giorgi R, Brouqui P. Evaluation of hand hygiene compliance and associated factors with a radio-frequency-identification-based real-time continuous automated monitoring system. J Hosp Infect. 2017 Apr;95(4):344-351.
  4. Boudjema S, Tarantini C, Peretti-Watel P, Brouqui P. Merging video coaching and an anthropologic approach to understand health care provider behavior toward hand hygiene protocols. Am J Infect Control. 2017 May 1;45(5):487-491

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