To investigate the timing and routes of contamination of the rooms of patients newly admitted to the hospital.

Observational cohort study and simulations of pathogen transfer.

A Veterans’ Affairs hospital.

Patients newly admitted to the hospital with no known carriage of healthcare-associated pathogens.

Interactions between the participants and personnel or portable equipment were observed, and cultures of high-touch surfaces, floors, bedding, and patients’ socks and skin were collected for up to 4 days. Cultures were processed for Clostridioides difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Simulations were conducted with bacteriophage MS2 to assess plausibility of transfer from contaminated floors to high-touch surfaces and to assess the effectiveness of wearing slippers in reducing transfer.

Environmental cultures became positive for at least 1 pathogen in 10 (59%) of the 17 rooms, with cultures positive for MRSA, C. difficile, and VRE in the rooms of 10 (59%), 2 (12%), and 2 (12%) participants, respectively. For all 14 instances of pathogen detection, the initial site of recovery was the floor followed in a subset of patients by detection on sock bottoms, bedding, and high-touch surfaces. In simulations, wearing slippers over hospital socks dramatically reduced transfer of bacteriophage MS2 from the floor to hands and to high-touch surfaces.

Floors may be an underappreciated source of pathogen dissemination in healthcare facilities. Simple interventions such as having patients wear slippers could potentially reduce the risk for transfer of pathogens from floors to hands and high-touch surfaces.

Alcoholism has a high prevalence and impacts on morbidity, mortality, life quality, and the economy. Heritability estimates of alcohol dependence are 50-61%. Putative psychological, cultural, and genetic susceptibilities to alcoholism have been identified but understanding of the genetic components is still underdeveloped.

Identify genetic vulnerabilities predisposing individuals to alcoholism and co-morbid psychiatric disorders in the largest study of its kind.

12 centres including 10 trainees are currently collecting blood and clinical samples. Nearly 1700 of 2000 cases of ICD-10/DSM-IV alcohol dependence have been collected; 500 with standardized assessments of alcohol use and comorbdity; and 2000 ancestrally-matched supernormal controls from UCL/collaborators. Genomic DNA will be isolated following standard procedures. Genotyping will be performed using the Affymetrix Gene Chip Human Mapping 1M Array to type up to 1 million single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and copy number variant (CNV) markers. Chi-square analysis of allelic association for the alcoholic sample versus controls will occur.

n=65; 57% male; mean age 45years; mean age onset harmful alcohol use 19years; mean age onset withdrawals 32y; mean alcohol intake 21 units; primary depression 27%; secondary depression 49%; antisocial personality disorder 14%. The candidate gene approach in this sample has shown that the GABA receptor B1 (GABRB1) and the tachykinin receptor 1 (TACR1) are involved in genetic susceptibility to alcoholism. The D2 dopamine receptor is next.

Preliminary data suggests high psychiatric comorbidity in a clinical alcohol dependence sample and implicated candidate genes. Next is genomewide analysis of markers, sequencing and biological pathway/systems alterations.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is characterized by deficits in three functional domains: language and communication, social reciprocity, and the presence of restricted interests/repetitive behaviours. There are also deficits in social cognition. When having a face-to-face conversation, a listener not only hears what a speaker is saying, but also sees the articulatory gestures. Speech signals needs then a multisensory processing. Impairments in multisensory perceptual binding given that hallmark features of the disorder include difficulties in speech, communication, and social interactions.

We suggest that atypical multisensory processing in ASD may have an impact on speech perception and social processing.

Therefore we could observe differences in a delayed free recall, between an unisensorial and multisensoral stimulus.

Our pilot study measures free recall scores in 3 lists of words presentation after 30 minutes. In the first condition (CI) words are only listened to, in the second (CII) associated with the picture of a man's face and in the third (CIII) associated with the man speaking in video. Participants were 7- to 13-year-olds typically developing children (TD) (N = 19) and ASD children (N = 19).

Our findings show that words recall is higher in CIII for TD children whereas ASD children recall more CI words.

Findings shows that multimodal information brings improvement in long term recall for TD children. In ASD group a better recall is observed with unimodale information. We suggest that multisensory integration deficits in ASD can impact learning of socials information and then social cognition.

Bipolar disorder (BP) and schizophrenia (SCZ) are severe, heritable psychiatric disorders. Genome-wide research suggests that the molecular basis of BP and SCZ overlap (Cross Disorder PGC Group, Lancet, 2013).

of our work was to investigate whether poligenic scores based on SCZ-associated SNPs in the PGC sample (www.med.unc.edu/pgc/) might predict the age of onset (AO) in BP-I. We hypothesized that the SCZ associated SNPs might predict the late AO of BP-I due to the common character of the SCZ-associated variants.

We selected 10,681 non-ambigous SNPs among the 102,637 SNPs present in the PGC SCZ-sample. Using these SNPs we derived poligenic scores in a Romanian sample of 243 BP-I patients with genome-wide data (604,064 SNPs) to predict the patient AO as dichotomous variable (early onset: AO≤24 years; late onset: AO>24 years). The genotyping of the Romanian patients was performed at the Institute of Human Genetics of Bonn. PLINK 1.07 (Purcell, 2009) was used for computing polygenic scores, means of which were compared by t-test between the early- and the late-AO patient groups.

2114 out of 10, 681 SCZ-SNPs were informative in our sample contributing to polygenic scores in BP-I patients. There was no significant difference in mean polygenic scores between the early- and the late-onset group of BP-I patients (t=1.14, P=0.25).

The polygenic scores based on 2114 SCZ-associated common variants did not predict the onset group in our BP-I patients under the AO-cutoff 24 years. Other AO-cutoffs and phenotypic traits (e.g. incongruent psychosis) might be tested.

We recently demonstrated that weight gain could be prevented in young people experiencing a first-episode of psychosis commencing treatment with antipsychotics. A 12-week, intensive lifestyle and life skills intervention – the Keeping the Body in Mind program, – was delivered by dedicated nursing, dietetic and exercise physiology clinicians, for new referrals with < one month of antipsychotic exposure. (Curtis et al., Early intervention in psychiatry, in press). At the conclusion of the intervention the 16 young people participating in the program experienced a mean weight gain of 1.8 kilograms, and a mean increase in waist circumference of 0.1 centimeters. The participants were followed up for two years after initial referral.

During the two-year follow-up, participants had continuing access to an in house gym and weekly cooking groups, but without the same intensity of follow-up. Two year follow-up data were obtained from 11 participants form the original cohort.

Mean weight gain at two-year follow-up was 0.90 (SD 8.7) kilograms, and this difference was not statistically significant [t (10) = 0.3, NS]. Waist circumference decreased by 0.7 (SD 7.7) centimeters, which was not t statistically significant [t (10) = 0.3, NS]. Nine of the participants (82%) did not experience clinically significant weight gain two years after initiation of antipsychotic medication.

This two-year follow-up data demonstrated that it is feasible to prevent weight gain in youth with first-episode psychosis over the first two years of treatment.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Nutrition interventions are critical for weight management and cardiometabolic risk reduction in people experiencing severe mental illness (SMI). As mental health teams evolve to incorporate nutrition interventions, evidence needs to guide clinical practice.

A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess whether nutrition interventions improve:

• – anthropometric and biochemical measures,

• – nutritional intake of people experiencing SMI.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a dietician-led nutrition intervention, as part of a broader lifestyle intervention, in the early stages of antipsychotic prescription.

An electronic database search was conducted to identify all trials with nutritional components. Included trials were pooled for meta-analysis. Meta-regression analyses were run on potential anthropometric moderators. Weekly individualised dietetic consultations plus group cooking classes were then offered to clients attending a Community Early Psychosis Programme, who had recently commenced antipsychotics for a 12-week period.

From pooled trials, nutrition interventions resulted in significant weight loss (19 studies, g = –0.39, P < 0.001), reduced BMI (17 studies, g = –0.40, P < 0.001), decreased waist circumference (10 studies, g = –0.27, P < 0.001) and lower blood glucose levels (5 studies, g = –0.37, P = 0.02). Dietician-led interventions (g = –0.90) and trials focussing on preventing weight gain (g = –0.61) were the most effective. The 12-week nutrition intervention resulted in a 47% reduction in discretionary (junk) food intake (P < 0.001) and reductions in daily energy (–24%, P < 0.001) and sodium intakes (–26%, P < 0.001), while improving diet quality (P < 0.05).

Evidence supports the inclusion of nutrition interventions as part of standard care for preventing weight gain and metabolic deterioration among people with SMI.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

People experiencing severe mental illness (SMI) face a shortened life expectancy of up to 20 years, primarily due to preventable cardiovascular (CV) diseases. Lifestyle interventions are effective in reducing CV risk, yet examples of service-wide interventions are lacking. Staff culture remains a barrier to the successful implementation of lifestyle interventions. The Keeping the Body in Mind (KBIM) program, established by SESLHD (Australia), aims to close the gap in life expectancy through multidisciplinary teams, including clinical nurse consultants, dieticians, exercise physiologists, and peer support workers. Prior to the KBIM rollout, an individualized lifestyle intervention called Keeping Our Staff In Mind (KoSiM) was offered to all district mental health staff.

KoSiM examined the effectiveness of a staff intervention to improve physical health, confidence, knowledge and attitudes of mental health staff.

Mental health staffs were invited to participate in an online survey and a 4-week individualized intervention including personalised health screening and lifestyle advice, with a 16-week follow-up. Outcomes assessed included: attitudes, confidence and knowledge regarding metabolic health, weight, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, sleep, diet, physical activity and exercise capacity.

Of a total of 702 staff, 204 completed the survey (29%). Among those completing the survey, 154 staff (75%) participated in the intervention. A mean decrease in waist circumference of 2 ± 2.7 cm, (P < 0.001) was achieved. Among staffs that were overweight or obese at baseline, 75% achieved a decrease in WC.

Improving staff culture regarding physical health interventions is an important step in integrating lifestyle interventions into routine care.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

K.S.B. is Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Problematic alcohol use is associated with detrimental cognitive, physiological and social consequences. In the emergency department (ED), Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is the recommended approach to identify and treat adolescent alcohol-related concerns, but is underused by physicians.

This study examined pediatric emergency physicians’ perceptions of adolescent drinking and treatment, and their current self-reported SBIRT practices.

Physicians in the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada database (n=245) received a 35-item questionnaire that was administered through a web-based platform and paper-based mail-outs. Recruitment followed a modified Dillman four-contact approach.

From October 2016 to January 2017, 166 pediatric emergency physicians (46.4% males; mean age=43.6 years) completed the questionnaire. The response rate was 67.8%. Physicians recognized the need (65%) and responsibility (86%) to address adolescent alcohol problems. However, confidence in knowledge and abilities for SBIRT execution was low. Twenty-five percent of physicians reported never having practiced all, or part of, SBIRT while 1.3% reported consistent SBIRT delivery for adolescents with alcohol-related visits. More alcohol education and counselling experience was associated with higher SBIRT use; however, physicians generally reported to have received minimal alcohol training. SBIRT practices were also associated with physician perceptions of problematic alcohol use and its treatability.

Pediatric emergency physicians acknowledge the need to address problematic adolescent alcohol use, but routine SBIRT use is lacking. Strategies to educate physicians about SBIRT and enhance perceived self-competency may improve SBIRT use. Effectiveness trials to establish SBIRT impact on patient outcomes are also needed.