Catarina Santos-Marques, PhD student in infection prevention and control, attended the 10th Congress of European Microbiologists, that took place in Hamburg, from July 9 to 13 – an event dedicated to showcasing the latest developments in microbiology, including the antimicrobial resistance.

Catarina presented two posters with preliminary, but promising results, based on the research work that has been developing, together with Sónia Gonçalves Pereira and Camila Teixeira, at ciTechCare, alongside their international partners. 

‘Spread of multidrug resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in long-term healthcare unit’s environment’, was one of the presented posters, highlighting the relevance of implementing and promoting infection prevention and control programs in these health units, as they harbour prevalent pathogens with important antimicrobial resistance features that greatly impact human health. 

The poster entitled ‘Air microbial quality in healthcare units and its role as pool for pathogens and multidrug resistance’ was also shared in this congress, pointing out the air as a relevant pool of multidrug-resistant pathogens in acute care hospital and even more in a long-term care unit. 

Both posters derived from the research conducted in two projects, with financial support obtained within the Seed Money funding collaboration between the Portuguese Coordinating Council of Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP) – where Polytechnic of Leiria is included – and the Haute École Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale (HES-SO).