Environmental surveillance in care homes (version 1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Wastewater-based epidemiology as a tool for tracking foodborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance within care homes in Northern Ireland.
IRAS ID
326558
Contact name
John McGrath
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
Foodborne pathogens (these are diseases usually acquired from eating food contaminated by bacteria, viruses or fungi) and antimicrobial resistance (this is when bacteria, viruses, or fungi develop a resistance to antimicrobials which were previously successfully used to treat them) jointly pose as an emerging public health threat across all care homes in Northern Ireland. The Pathogen Surveillance in Agriculture, Food and Environment (PATH-SAFE) programme was set up in 2021 to monitor these threats across various health care and agricultural sectors in all four nations of the United Kingdom. As part of the PATH-SAFE programme, our research team at Queen's University Belfast aims to understand the burden of these pathogenic microbes on two privately owned care home facilities in Northern Ireland. This study will encompass a range of methods and is separated into four different workpackages:
WORKPACKAGE 1:
The focus of this workpackage is on the detection and monitoring of norovirus using two different sampling strategies: wastewater surveillance and interior air sampling.WORKPACKAGE 2:
This workpackage aims to identify if and where antimicrobial resistance is present using wastewater sampling techniques.WORKPACKAGE 3:
During this workpackage, we want to carry out semi-structured interviews with care home staff, health professionals, residents and their family members to assess their views on antimicrobial resistance.WORKPACKAGE 4:
The purpose of this workpackage is to understand the how bacteria spread throughout the care home environment using pseudo-bacteria in the form of silica nanoparticles encapsulated with DNA, which mimic the transmission patterns of bacterial cells.Note: Samples obtained in workpackage 1 and workpackage 2 may also be used to test for additional pathogens of public health concern, and an amendment to the protocol will be made and submitted to the Research Ethics Committee, if applicable.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
23/NI/0069
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jun 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion