Nuala O'Connell

Principal Investigators

Nuala graduated in biochemistry and medicine from NUIG in 1991 and 1994 respectively. She completed a MSc. in clinical microbiology at QMW College, University of London in 1997 before becoming a registrar / lecturer in clinical microbiology at Beaumont Hospital / RCSI Dublin. She finished her clinical microbiology training by doing a PHLS/HPA rotation in the West Midlands, UK during which time she was awarded a MD from the University of Warwick in 2003 for her thesis on Clostridium difficile in a biofilm mode of growth using the Sobarod filter system. Nuala passed her MRCPath in clinical microbiology in 2004 and has been a consultant microbiologist & infection prevention and control doctor at the MWRH, Limerick since 2005. She is also an adjunct clinical lecturer at UL.

Interests include prosthetic joint infections, biofilms and antimicrobial resistance.

Publications

2022

Teoh, T., Powell, J., O'Keeffe, J., Donlon, E., Dillon, L., Lenihan, M., Mostyn, A., Power, L., Boers, P., Stapleton, P. J., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2022). Outcomes of implementation of the FilmArray meningoencephalitis panel in a tertiary hospital between 2017 and 2020. PloS one, 17(3), e0265187

Powell, J., Porter, E., Field, S., O'Connell, N. H., Carty, K., & Dunne, C. P. (2022). Epidemiology of dermatomycoses and onychomycoses in Ireland (2001-2020): A single-institution review. Mycoses, 65(7), 770–779

Hare, D., Meaney, C., Powell, J., Slevin, B., O' Brien, B., Power, L., O' Connell, N. H., De Gascun, C. F., Dunne, C. P., & Stapleton, P. J. (2022). Repeated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in an overcrowded Irish emergency department elucidated by whole-genome sequencing. The Journal of hospital infection, 126, 1–9.

Minihan, B., McAuliffe, E., Powell, J., Wong, S. L., Wilkie, K., Murphy, C., Maher, A., Power, L., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2022). Association between tocilizumab treatment of hyperinflammatory patients with COVID-19 in a critical care setting and elevated incidence of hospital-acquired bacterial and invasive fungal infections. The Journal of hospital infection, 126, 29–36.

Dembicka, K. M., Powell, J., O'Connell, N. H., Hennessy, N., Brennan, G., & Dunne, C. P. (2022). Prevalence of linezolid-resistant organisms among patients admitted to a tertiary hospital for critical care or dialysis. Irish journal of medical science, 191(4), 1745–1750.

O'Connell, N. H., Gasior, S., Slevin, B., Power, L., Barrett, S., Bhutta, S. I., Minihan, B., Powell, J., & Dunne, C. P. (2022). Microbial epidemiology and clinical risk factors of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales amongst Irish patients from first detection in 2009 until 2020. Infection prevention in practice, 4(3), 100230.

Clancy, C., Dunne, S. S., Baban, C., Tormey, S., Merrigan, A., O'Connell, N. H., Coffey, J. C., & Dunne, C. P. (2022). A hypothesis for association between electrical surgical incision techniques and surgical site infection. The Journal of hospital infection, 128, 36–38. Advance online publication.

2021

Teoh, T. K., Powell, J., Kelly, J., McDonnell, C., Whelan, R., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2021). Outcomes of point-of-care testing for influenza in the emergency department of a tertiary referral hospital in Ireland. The Journal of hospital infection, 110, 45–51.

O'Callaghan, M. E., Ryan, E., Walsh, C., Hayes, P., Casey, M., O'Dwyer, P., Culhane, A., Duncan, J. W., Harrold, P., Healy, J., Kerin, E., Kelly, E., Hanrahan, C., Lane, G. P., Lynch, B., Meaney, P., O'Connell, B., Galvin, J., Kennedy, N., Burke, P., … Glynn, L. G. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 infection in general practice in Ireland: a seroprevalence study. BJGP open, 5(4), BJGPO.2021.0038

Linnane, B., O'Connell, N. H., Obande, E., Dunne, S. S., Clancy, C., Kiernan, M. G., McGrath, D., O'Sullivan, K. J., O'Sullivan, L., & Dunne, C. P. (2021). Assessment of the microbial load of airway clearance devices used by a cohort of children with cystic fibrosis. Infection prevention in practice, 3(3), 100153.

Teoh, T., McNamara, R., Powell, J., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2021). A retrospective observational study of the impact of 16s and 18s ribosomal RNA PCR on antimicrobial treatment over seven years: A tertiary hospital experience. PloS one, 16(10), e0258552.

Huggard, D., Powell, J., Kirkham, C., Power, L., O'Connell, N. H., & Philip, R. K. (2021). Time to positivity (TTP) of neonatal blood cultures: a trend analysis over a decade from Ireland. The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians, 34(5), 780–786.

Woods, S., Power, L., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2021). A 2018 hospital-mediated outbreak of 42 measles cases in Ireland: observations regarding emergency department waiting times and staff vaccination levels. The Journal of hospital infection, 112, 114–115.

Powell, J., Monahan, R., Slevin, B., O'Hara, M., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2021). Coping with contagions: maintaining infection prevention and control in an Irish tertiary hospital during COVID and a debilitating nationwide ransomware virus in May 2021. The Journal of hospital infection, 114, 180–181.

2020

Philip, R. K., Purtill, H., Reidy, E., Daly, M., Imcha, M., McGrath, D., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2020). Unprecedented reduction in births of very low birthweight (VLBW) and extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants during the COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland: a 'natural experiment' allowing analysis of data from the prior two decades. BMJ global health, 5(9), e003075.

Dunne, C. P., Ryan, P., Connolly, R., Dunne, S. S., Kaballo, M. A., Powell, J., Woulfe, B., O'Connell, N. H., & Gupta, R. K. (2020). Management of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) in the oncology patient: Further evidence supports prompt removal of central venous catheters and shorter duration of intravenous antimicrobial therapy. Infection prevention in practice, 2(1), 100037.

Mostyn, A., Lenihan, M., O'Sullivan, D., Woods, S., O'Hara, M., Powell, J., Power, L., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2020). Assessment of the FilmArray® multiplex PCR system and associated meningitis/encephalitis panel in the diagnostic service of a tertiary hospital. Infection prevention in practice, 2(2), 100042.

2019

Mohamed, H., Ali, A., Browne, L. D., O'Connell, N. H., Casserly, L., Stack, A. G., & Hussein, W. F. (2019). Determinants and outcomes of access-related blood-stream infections among Irish haemodialysis patients; a cohort study. BMC nephrology, 20(1), 68.

Murray, L., Halpin, J., Casserly, B., O'Connell, N. H., & Scanlon, T. (2019). A pyo-hydropneumothorax with sepsis, secondary to Gardnerella vaginalis infection in a post-partum female. Respiratory medicine case reports, 26, 189–192.

Dunne, C. P., O'Connell, N. H., & O'Brien, B. (2019). Inform rather than ambush CPE patient contacts. The Journal of hospital infection, 101(2), 195.

Dunne, C. P., Slevin, B. L., Treacy, P., & O'Connell, N. H. (2019). Opportunities lost may be the greatest cost of CPE outbreaks. The Journal of hospital infection, 101(2), 194–195.

Weinbren, M., Weston, V., Woods, S., Collins, M., Coultas, A., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2019). Oxygenating the argument for consistent performance of anaerobic blood cultures and blood volumes collected. The Journal of hospital infection, 102(3), 351–352.

Ryan, P., Motherway, C., Powell, J., Elsaka, A., Sheikh, A. A., Jahangir, A., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2019). Candidaemia in an Irish intensive care unit setting between 2004 and 2018 reflects increased incidence of Candida glabrata. The Journal of hospital infection, 102(3), 347–350.

2018

Kingston, L. M., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2018). A comparative study of hand hygiene and alcohol-based hand rub use among Irish nursing and medical students. Nurse education today, 63, 112–118. h

Brady, H., Piggott, L., Dunne, S. S., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2018). Clustered interventions to reduce inappropriate duplicate laboratory tests in an Irish tertiary hospital. Clinical biochemistry, 52, 26–32.

Dunne, C. P., O'Connell, N. H., & O'Brien, B. (2019). Inform rather than ambush CPE patient contacts. The Journal of hospital infection, 101(2), 195.

Dunne, S. S., Ahonen, M., Modic, M., Crijns, F., Keinänen-Toivola, M. M., Meinke, R., Keevil, C. W., Gray, J., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2018). Specialized cleaning associated with antimicrobial coatings for reduction of hospital-acquired infection: opinion of the COST Action Network AMiCI (CA15114). The Journal of hospital infection, 99(3), 250–255.

Dunne, C. P., Slevin, B. L., Treacy, P., & O'Connell, N. H. (2019). Opportunities lost may be the greatest cost of CPE outbreaks. The Journal of hospital infection, 101(2), 194–195.

Dunne, C. P., O'Sullivan, K. J., O'Sullivan, L., Linnane, B., & O'Connell, N. H. (2018). Foreseeing the microbiology of bespoke 3D-printed medical devices. The Journal of hospital infection, 99(2), 237–238.

O'Sullivan, D., Linnane, B., Mostyn, A., Jonathan, N., Lenihan, M., O'Connell, N. H., & Dunne, C. P. (2018). Detection of Neisseria meningitidis in a paediatric patient with septic arthritis using multiplexed diagnostic PCR targeting meningitis/encephalitis (ME). Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials, 17(1), 14.

Dunne, C. P., Kingston, L., Slevin, B., & O'Connell, N. H. (2018). Hand hygiene and compliance behaviours are the under-appreciated human factors pivotal to reducing hospital-acquired infections. The Journal of hospital infection, 98(4), 328–330.

2017

Kingston, L., O'Connell, N.H. and Dunne, C. (2017) 'Hand hygiene-related clinical trials reported since 2010-A systematic review', National Institute of Health Sciences, 7(4), 64.

Kingston, L. M., Slevin, B. L., O'Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2017) 'Attitudes and practices of Irish hospital-based physicians towards hand hygiene and handrubbing using alcohol-based hand rubs, a comparison between 2007 and 2015', J Hosp Infect, 2017/05/24.

Linnane, B., Kiernan, M.G., O'Connell, N.H., Kearse, L. and Dunne, C. (2017) 'Anti-rsv prophylaxis efficacy for infants and young children with cystic fibrosis in Ireland', National Institute of Health Sciences, 7(4), 11.

Linnane, B., Kearse, L., O'Connell, N.H., Fenton, J., Kiernan, M.G. and Dunne, C. (2017) 'A case of failed eradication of cystic fibrosis-related sinus colonisation by pseudomonas aeruginosa', National Institute of Health Sciences, 7(4), 12.

O’Connell, N. H., Tansey, P., Dunne, S. S. and Dunne, C. P. (2017) 'Timely publishing of experiences and sharing of knowledge', Journal of Hospital Infection.

O' Connor, C., Philip, R.K., Powell, J., Slevin, B., Quinn, C., Power, L., O'Connell, N.H. and Dunne, C. (2017) 'Combined education and skin antisepsis intervention for persistently high blood-culture contamination rates in neonatal intensive care', National Institute of Health Sciences, 7(4), 9.

O'Connor, C., Philip, R. K., Kelleher, J., Powell, J., O'Gorman, A., Slevin, B., Woodford, N., Turton, J. F., McGrath, E., Finnegan, C., Power, L., O'Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2017) 'The first occurrence of a CTX-M ESBL-producing Escherichia coli outbreak mediated by mother to neonate transmission in an Irish neonatal intensive care unit', BMC Infect Dis, 17(1), 16.

Power, R.F., Linnane, B., Martin, R., Power, N., Harnett, P., Casserly, B., O'Connell, N.H. and Dunne, C. (2017) 'The first reported case of burkholderia contaminans in patients with cystic fibrosis in Ireland- From the Sargasso sea to Irish children', National Institute of Health Sciences, 7(4), 10.

2016

Kingston, L., O'Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2016) 'Hand hygiene-related clinical trials reported since 2010: a systematic review', J Hosp Infect, 92(4), 309-20.

Kingston, L., O’Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2016) 'Response to letter from Chudleigh et al. : Systematic reviews of hand hygiene in patient care post 2010', Journal of Hospital Infection.

O’Connor, C., Philip, R. K., Powell, J., Slevin, B., Quinn, C., Power, L., O’Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2016) 'Combined education and skin antisepsis intervention for persistently high blood-culture contamination rates in neonatal intensive care', Journal of Hospital Infection.

O’Connor, C., O’Connell, N. H., Commane, M., O’Donovan, E., Power, L. and Dunne, C. P. (2016) 'Limerick: forever associated with five lines of rhyme or infamous for irrepressible carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae for all time?', Journal of Hospital Infection.

O'Connor, C., Kiernan, M. G., Finnegan, C., O'Hara, M., Power, L., O'Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2016) 'An optimised work-flow to reduce time-to-detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) using direct testing from rectal swabs', Bioengineered, 2016/08/18, 0.

O’Connor, C., Cormican, M., Boo, T. W., McGrath, E., Slevin, B., O’Gorman, A., Commane, M., Mahony, S., O’Donovan, E., Powell, J., Monahan, R., Finnegan, C., Kiernan, M. G., Coffey, J. C., Power, L., O’Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2016) 'An Irish outbreak of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM)-1 carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae: increasing but unrecognised prevalence', Journal of Hospital Infection.

O’Connor, C., Kiernan, M. G., Finnegan, C., Powell, J., Power, L., O’Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. (2016) 'Colonisation with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) not detected in a prevalence study', Irish Journal of Medical Sciences.

Power, R. F., Linnane, B., Martin, R., Power, N., Harnett, P., Casserly, B., O'Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2016) 'The first reported case of Burkholderia contaminans in patients with cystic fibrosis in Ireland: from the Sargasso Sea to Irish Children', BMC Pulm Med, 16(1), 57.

2015

Kingston, L., O’Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. P. (2015) 'Hand hygiene-related clinical trials reported since 2010: a systematic review', Journal of Hospital Infection.

Linnane, B., Kearse, L., O’ Connell, N.H., Kiernan, M.G., Dunne, C.P. (2015) 'Anti-RSV prophylaxis efficacy for infants and young children with cystic fibrosis in Ireland', Multidisciplinary Respiratory Medicine, 10(32).

Linnane, B., Kearse, L., NH, O. C., Fenton, J., Kiernan, M. G. and Dunne, C. P. (2015) 'A case of failed eradication of cystic fibrosis-related sinus colonisation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa', BMC Pulm Med, 15(1), 114.

O'Connor, C., Casserly, L. F., Qazi, J., Power, L., Finnegan, C., O'Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. (2015) 'A case of fatal daptomycin-resistant, vancomycin-resistant enterococcal infective endocarditis in end-stage kidney disease', JMM Case Reports, 2(5).

O'Connor, C., Powell, J., Finnegan, C., O'Gorman, A., Barrett, S., Hopkins, K. L., Pichon, B., Hill, R., Power, L., Woodford, N., Coffey, J. C., Kearns, A., O'Connell, N. H. and Dunne, C. (2015) 'Incidence, management and outcomes of the first cfr-mediated linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis outbreak in a tertiary referral centre in the Republic of Ireland', J Hosp Infect.