Hello World!

One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.
– John F. Kennedy 

Welcome to the launch of InfectionControl.tips. In this humble beginning, we are excited to introduce our organization. This is the beginning of something great.

Our launch coincided with the World Health Organization’s World Antibiotic Resistance Week, which began on November 16, 2015. According to Dr. Margaret Chen, Director-General of the World Health Organization, “The World Economic Forum has identified antibiotic resistance as a global risk beyond the capacity of any one organization or nation to manage or mitigate alone.” In addressing this concern to the G7 Health Ministers on October 8, 2015, Dr. Chen concluded her statements with the following observation:

Consumer groups and civil society can play an important role in combating antimicrobial resistance. They are important movers, shakers, and front-line players, especially in this age of social media.

Therein lies the value of InfectionControl.tips.  Antibiotic resistance is only part of the problem. With a comprehensive strategy to combat all aspects of infectious diseases, we are also focusing on food safety, environmental cleaning, microbiology, public health, facility design and scientific advancements. We aim to present the latest research, best practices, stories and observations from around the world that will help you understand and appreciate the issues, feel the emotion, make informed decisions and protect your family. You have a role to play in the future health of your community and we want to be your resource, your sounding board, your inspiration.

A Modest Start

We present to you today our modest start.  Within these pages we have created a collection of perspective pieces, news items and peer-reviewed articles that lay the foundation of our Global Collective. We have assembled a great team of writers, reviewers and editors, each of whom has volunteered countless hours to making this launch possible. While developing this resource, we have been amazed at the response and support from around the world and we are excited for you to join us for this launch.

Significant Plans

We have significant plans for InfectionControl.tips and this launch (Stage 1) is only the beginning of things to come.  As our Road Map illustrates, Stages 2 and 3 of our Global Collective will provide added functionality, which includes multiple layers of global interaction, communication and, ultimately, the implementation of Natural Language Parsing and global analytics to aid in the advancement of new technologies, trends and discoveries.

Moving forward, we want to emphasize that we will not succumb to fear tactics to grab your interest, we will maintain journalistic and scientific integrity.  As a global collective, we will accept a wide range of submissions and perspectives and help you through the publishing process so that we can reduce any barriers to the world hearing about your experiences in infectious disease. With our global team of infectious disease experts, we are working hard with our authors to ensure that all articles are of high quality, and not based on anecdotal evidence. Our only agenda is to provide a platform to share information in the hope that we can affect progress and positive change.

Global Empowerment

Our primary goal is to bring together experts within various disciplines of infection control and prevention to foster an interdisciplinary approach for combating infectious disease.  Experts will include scientists, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, policy makers and others in the medical field, but will also include patients, students, cleaners, caregivers, facility managers and building system designers. We need your input so that we can become a comprehensive resource that contains a broad range of perspectives, ideas and voices. We will amplify your voice by helping you to publish your questions, concerns and ideas in our open-access format.  Regardless of where, or who you are, we will work with you to publish your story, white paper or research. The key to championing infectious diseases is already in communities around the world.  By empowering our global communities to come together and share their experiences on a pan-access platform, we become a collective of change. InfectionControl.tips is that platform.

How can you help? It’s as simple as this:

Join.    Contribute.    Make a Difference.

Michael Diamond, on behalf of the InfectionControl.tips team

Updated January 7, 2016