Drug-resistant microbes are a serious threat for future pandemics, but the new draft of the WHO’s international pandemic agreement may not include provisions for antimicrobial resistance.
Siouxsie Wiles, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Penicillin originally came from a fungus, and with thousands of fungi to explore, Aotearoa New Zealand has a potential treasure trove of bacteria-killing compounds.
Antimicrobial resistance is a public health and economic disaster waiting to happen. If we do not address this threat, by 2050 more people will die from drug-resistant infections than from cancer.
Bacteria are becoming resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics. These expensive, hard-to-treat infections are prompting physicians to reassess using viruses to destroy bacteria.
Speaking with: Dr. John Gerrard on infectious diseases
The Conversation, CC BY-ND23,2 Mo(download)
William Isdale speaks to Dr. John Gerrard about the constant threat of infectious diseases and what we can do to prevent a deadly pandemic from establishing itself in Australia.
Artificial turf has become popular for kids’ sports as well as for professional players. The little black crumbs that help support the blades of fake grass may not be so harmless.
Which of the following conditions would you prefer to have during your next stay in hospital? A. Staphylococcus aureus (Golden Staph) bloodstream infection; or B. a heart attack?
Following a public vote, the 2014 Longitude Prize to develop an idea that will help solve one of the greatest issues of our time will go to a project working on antibiotic resistance. The focus of the…
Smoking weakens the immune system and lowers the ability of human cells to fight infection – research has shown this over and over again. Smoking cigarettes, and breathing in second-hand smoke, puts people…
Human skin is a garden of microbes which is home to about 1,000 bacterial species. Most are benign but some invade the skin and cause illness – and of these, antibiotic resistant bacteria are particularly…
Bacteria-eating viruses that kill the hospital superbug C. difficile have been isolated by scientists. The use of these kinds of viruses, known as phages, to tackle bacterial infection was employed before…