The “Hospital Acquired Infection Gown” (2024) takes the form of a garment printed “Hospital Use Only” which is being embroidered by the artist to communicate the significant issue of healthcare-associated infections which can develop either as a direct result of healthcare interventions such as medical or surgical treatment, or from being in contact with a healthcare setting.
In the case of many of the bacterial infections featured on the gown, the embroideries are embedded with their extracted (desiccated) DNA, and in the case COVID-19 it is embedded with SARS-CoV-2 RNA (coronavirus) from a plasmid construct. In the case of MRSA, the bacteria have been grown into cotton embedded in chromogenic agar and then sterilised.
The SARS-CoV-2 RNA is a safe and non-infectious reagent for SARS-CoV-2 research (NIBSC 19/304), obtained from the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, UK. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA was supplied by researchers Dr Ines Moura and Dr Jane Freeman at the University of Leeds who worked with the SARS-CoV-2 primers and the RNA construct in the development and use of a RT-PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection in faeces.
The gown features the following healthcare-associated infections: Klebsiella, MRSA, E. coli, Pseudomonas, C. difficile, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, Influenza B, Rhinovirus, Norovirus, and Measles.
Made in collaboration with Dr James Price (Brighton and Sussex Medical School), Sid Mookerjee (University Hospitals Sussex) and Ashleigh Myall (NEX.Q) and Alex May. DNA supplied by the NCTC at the UKHSA, SARS-CoV-2 RNA (coronavirus) from a plasmid construct supplied by Dr Ines Moura and Dr Jane Freeman (University of Leeds).
Materials: Hospital gown, embroidery silk, cotton embedded with killed MRSA bacteria grown on chromogenic agar, beads, extracted and desiccated DNA from the NCTC 3000 project. SARS-CoV-2 RNA (coronavirus) from a plasmid construct.
Supported by Brighton and Sussex Medical School and University of Sussex Higher Education Innovation Funds (HEIF), supporting a wider program of work in Sussex on translational clinical research in IPC through collaborations with academia, clinical, industry and patients/public.
Exhibitions
FIS24 Conference (Federation of Infection Societies), Liverpool 20th – 22nd November 2024
16th Triennale Kleinplastik Fellbach, Germany 24th May 2025 – 28th Sep 2025.