Aodhan Breathnach

Mere microbiologist, doctor, interested in nearly everything

[UK Health Security Agency @UKHSA]

🧵 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...

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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 https://t.co/PMTYQCCmHk
📷

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@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?

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@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)...

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@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)...

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@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.

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@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.

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

#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.

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@IKostenas Hi there, the paper is still under review, but here is a link to the poster being shown at ECCMID. https://t.co/Rtgs1dJLrV

[Aodhan Breathnach @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?

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

https://t.co/EKA6YclrPp 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.

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

@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

[Aodhan Breathnach @dublinensis]

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