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When facing an emerging virus outbreak such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a quick reaction time is key to control the spread. It takes time to develop antivirals and vaccines, and implement vaccination campaigns. Therefore, preventive measures such as rapid isolation of cases and identification and early quarantine of cases' close contacts-as well as masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene, surface disinfection and air control-are crucial to reduce the risk of transmission. In this context, disinfectants and antiseptics with proven efficacy against the outbreak virus should be used. However, biocidal formulations are quite complex and may include auxiliary substances such as surfactants or emollients in addition to active substances. In order to evaluate disinfectants' efficacy objectively, meaningful efficacy data are needed. Therefore, the European Committee for Standardisation technical committee 216 'Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics' Working Group 1 (medical area) has developed standards for efficacy testing. The European tiered approach grades the virucidal efficacy in three levels, with corresponding marker test viruses. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, disinfectants with proven activity against vaccinia virus, the marker virus for the European claim 'active against enveloped viruses', should be used to ensure effective hygiene procedures to control the pandemic.

Purpose: In undergraduate medical education, peer-teaching has become an established and common method to enhance student learning. Evidence suggests that peer-teaching provides learning benefits for both learners and tutors. We aimed to describe the outcomes for medical students taught by peers through systematic review and meta-analysis of existing literature., Methods: Seven databases were searched through 21 terms and their Boolean combinations. Studies reporting knowledge or skills outcomes of students taught by peers compared to those taught by faculty or qualified clinicians were included. Extracted data on students' knowledge and skills outcomes were synthesised through a random effects model meta-analysis., Results: The search yielded 2292 studies. Five hundred and fifty-three duplicates and 1611 irrelevant articles were removed during title-screening. The abstracts of 128 papers were screened against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ten studies have been included in the review. Meta-analyses showed no significant difference in peer-teaching compared to faculty teaching for knowledge or skills outcomes, standardised mean differences were 0.07 (95% CI: -0.07, 0.21) and 0.11 (95% CI: -0.07, 1.29), respectively., Conclusion: Students taught by peers do not have significantly different outcomes to those taught by faculty. As the process of teaching helps to develop both tutor knowledge and teaching skills, peer-teaching should be supported.

Background: Many medical schools teach the principles of evidence-based medicine (EBM) as part of their undergraduate curriculum. Medical students perceive that EBM is valuable to their undergraduate and postgraduate career. Students may experience barriers to applying EBM principles, especially when searching for evidence or identifying high-quality resources., Context: The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Evidence Search is a service that enables access to authoritative clinical and non-clinical evidence and best practice through a web-based portal., Innovation: Evidence-based medicine workshops were organised and delivered by fourth-year medical students, having first received training from NICE to become NICE student champions. The workshops covered the basic principles of EBM and focused on retrieving EBM resources for study through the NICE Evidence Search portal. The scheme was evaluated using a pre-workshop survey and an 8-12 week post-workshop survey. Self-reported confidence in searching for evidence-based resources increased from 29 per cent before the workshop to 87 per cent after the workshop. Only 1 per cent of students rated evidence-based resources as their first preference pre-workshop, compared with 31 per cent post-workshop., Implications: The results show that although many students were aware of evidence-based resources, they tended not to use them as their preferred resource. Despite appreciating the value of evidence-based resources, few students were confident in accessing and using such resources for pre-clinical study. A peer-taught workshop in EBM improved students' confidence with, and use of, evidence-based resources., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Stockyards are premises where livestock from different sources are brought together for a period of time, before returning to their place of origin, or moving on to new premises or to the abattoir. Such premises pose particular problems for disease control, as they are potential sources for the dissemination of disease agents over wide geographical areas. The author describes a thorough programme of cleaning and disinfection for use during the routine operation of a stockyard. A different programme is described for use in the event of an outbreak of an Office International des Epizooties List A disease, taking into account the extra risks involved in such a disease outbreak.

Livestock production premises (e.g. barns, and pens for lambing, calving, weaning and holding animals) encounter disease problems mainly associated with the housing of new-born and young animals, pregnant females and suckling mothers. The author describes a programme of cleaning and disinfection for use during the routine operation of livestock premises. A further programme is described for use in the event of an outbreak of an Office International des Epizooties List A disease, taking into account the particular problems associated with this type of disease.