Microbiology & Infectious Diseases

This article is based on a Learning Lounge educational session that took place on 22nd October 2022, as part of Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) IDWeek™ 2022 held in Washington, D.C., USA.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge challenge for the Greek National Health System. Real-time reverse transcription PCR (rtRT-PCR) remains the reference method for early diagnosis, contact tracing, and containment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

EMJ spoke to Radhika Polisetty about her research into antimicrobial stewardship, antimicrobial resistance, and much more.

EMJ spoke to Louise Dyson about systematic non-adherence to mass drug administration, modelling to support the eradication of NTDs, and more.

THE COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the dire need to foster increased public confidence in mitigation and prevention strategies through more and better health literacy.

Clostridioides difficile, formerly known as Clostridium difficile, is a Gram-positive spore-forming and toxin-producing bacterium that causes diarrhoea in vulnerable patient groups. It is a common hospital-acquired infection but also occurs in the community.

Since the detection of the first cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant causing COVID-19 infections in South Africa in November 2021, there have been a few population-based reports to suggest that the clinical severity and presentation of this variant is different to previous COVID-19 surges.

Ramirez noted that more than 100 pneumococcal serotypes have now been identified, which is most likely the result of increased…