{"title":"Infection control and environmental sustainability: focus on practice","authors":"Helen Griffiths","doi":"10.1136/flgastro-2023-102475","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Endoscopy is known to be a high generator of waste in healthcare. It also poses an infection risk to patients, both from their own endogenous flora and from exogenous micro-organisms. Increases in infection, as seen during the pandemic, result in increased use of single-use equipment, personal protective equipment, packaging and harmful chemicals. With the significant risk of a further pandemic within the next 5 years, both climate change and the risk of infections should be considered as health emergencies, as they create a revolving door scenario. This article reviews some of the endoscopic and non-endoscopic infection risks and practical ways in which we can improve our environmental footprint while maintaining infection prevention and control.","PeriodicalId":46937,"journal":{"name":"Frontline Gastroenterology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontline Gastroenterology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1136/flgastro-2023-102475","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GASTROENTEROLOGY & HEPATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Endoscopy is known to be a high generator of waste in healthcare. It also poses an infection risk to patients, both from their own endogenous flora and from exogenous micro-organisms. Increases in infection, as seen during the pandemic, result in increased use of single-use equipment, personal protective equipment, packaging and harmful chemicals. With the significant risk of a further pandemic within the next 5 years, both climate change and the risk of infections should be considered as health emergencies, as they create a revolving door scenario. This article reviews some of the endoscopic and non-endoscopic infection risks and practical ways in which we can improve our environmental footprint while maintaining infection prevention and control.
期刊介绍:
Frontline Gastroenterology publishes articles that accelerate adoption of innovative and best practice in the fields of gastroenterology and hepatology. Frontline Gastroenterology is especially interested in articles on multidisciplinary research and care, focusing on both retrospective assessments of novel models of care as well as putative future directions of best practice. Specifically Frontline Gastroenterology publishes articles in the domains of clinical quality, patient experience, service provision and medical education.