Superbugs & You CIDRAP

Season 4 of Superbugs and You is here!

Episode 16: One Health is a concept that recognizes this interconnection and emphasizes the need for collaborative approaches to solving the issue of antimicrobial resistance at all levels -  humans, animals, and the environment is undeniable. Guests on this episode include Lance Price, (George Washington University), Francisco Diez-Gonzales (University of Georgia), and Paul Plummer (Iowa State University).

 

Season 4 of Superbugs and You is here!

Episode 15: Antimicrobials are the cornerstone of modern medicine, and this is especially true for patients with cystic fibrosis. People with CF rely on antibiotics for recurring and persistent infections, and with regular use, antibiotics become less and less effective in fighting these infections. Guests include Ella Balasa, (Patient Advocate), Helen Boucher, MD (Tufts Medicine), and Mary Booth Dwight (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation).

 

Season 4 of Superbugs and You is here!

Episode 14: This year, Italy leads the Presidency of the G7. The group is united by common values in addressing global challenges, including antimicrobial resistance. This episode features Italian leaders driving transformational policy to battle AMR. Guests include Francesca Chiara, (CIDRAP ASP), Mariano Votta (Active Citizenship Network-Cittadinanzattiva), Damiano De Felice (CARB-X), and Massimo Sartelli (Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery).

 

Health officials around the world are sounding the alarm on a highly infectious bacteria causing extensively drug-resistant infections. Shigella, which causes the infection known as shigellosis, is a genus of bacteria that results in gastrointestinal distress that ranges from uncomfortable to deadly, in adults and children. Global surveillance efforts on Shigella have identified outbreaks of strains that are extensively drug-resistant across the UK, US, and parts of Europe. How is the world dealing with this new superbug?

 

Guests

Lou Bourgeois, PhD: Johns Hopkins, Science Officer for Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases, PATH

Gauri Godbole, MBBS, MD: UKHSA, Consultant Microbiologist and Parasitologist, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, University College London Hospitals, NHS

Naemah Logan, MD: Medical Officer, Surveillance Epidemiologist, National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Louise Francois Watkins, MD: Medical Officer, NARMS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: CDC

 

 

Over the past decade, several strains (types) of Salmonella typhi have become resistant to multiple antibiotics. Resistant strains have been identified across the globe. However, the 2018 launch of a vaccine has slowed infections. It is estimated that TCV introduction with a catch-up campaign will avert 42.5 million cases and 506,000 deaths caused by fluoroquinolone-resistant typhoid fever, and 21.2 million cases and 342,000 deaths from multidrug-resistant typhoid fever over 10 years following introduction. This episode will cover the impact of vaccinations and the challenges to deploy effective programs. 

 

Guests:


Farah Naz Qamar - Pediatric Infectious Disease Associate Professor, The Aga Khan University, Pakistan
Kathy Neuzil - Director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Denise Garrett - Vice President, Applied Epidemiology, Sabin Vaccine Institute
Calman MacLennan - Senior Program Officer, Bacterial Vaccines, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

 

For more information on the impact of typhoid conjugate vaccines and AMR, check out CIDRAP-ASP's report, A Vaccine Is a Bridge: The New Era of Typhoid Prevention.

Despite great improvements in mortality for children under 5, sepsis remains a leading cause of death in young children. The highest incidence and mortality were seen in newborns, with the biggest impact seen in low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This episode will highlight how the availability of guidelines, diagnostics, and therapeutics can make a difference in the smallest of patients. Content warning: this episode contains discussions of infant loss.

Guests:


Kamala Thiagarajan - Freelance journalist, Global health and environmental sciences
Seamus O’Brien - Director of Research and Development, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Program
Phoebe Williams - Pediatrician, Infectious Disease Physician, Faculty of Medicine,  University of Sydney

Materials Mentioned in this Episode


Neonatal sepsis: the new threat posed by superbugs, Kamala Thiagarajan, BBC
Antibiotics needed to treat multidrug-resistant infections in neonates, Phoebe Williams, …, Seamus O’Brien et al., Bulletin of the World Health Organization