John Kerr • Apr 21, 2017 •
Infectious disease experts are “deeply alarmed” by the death of a US woman due to a bacterial infection resistant to all available antibiotics. Writing this week in a Medical Journal of Australia editorial, researchers warn that the case may herald “the start of the post-antibiotic era.” Professor Cheryl Jones, President of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID), and … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 25, 2016 •
What might the economic costs of antibiotic/antimicrobial-resistant infections be in New Zealand? The simple answer is – we don’t know. As far as I’m aware, there’s been no New Zealand studies publicly disseminated on this topic. Therefore, we have to look overseas for reported studies. While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013) stated the total economic cost … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 25, 2016 •
We are nearing a crisis point in our use (and, sadly, misuse) of antibiotics. Indeed, the World Health Organisation recently described humanity as being in “a race against time” to develop antibiotics against multi-drug resistant superbugs. If we cannot find effective new antibiotics soon, we may be faced with a return to the 1920s pre-antibiotic era, where people routinely … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Nov 24, 2016 •
Last week was World Antibiotic Awareness week, an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance. To follow-up, here at Te Pūnaha Matatini we are having a week-long conversation about the health, social, economic, and environmental impacts of infectious diseases in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this post, I want to touch on what … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 22, 2016 •
Chlamydia is not a very sexy topic… it should be though, because it’s caught by having sex. It’s surprising how many young people don’t know how common chlamydia is. It’s easy to treat but it’s so much easier to prevent by using condoms when having oral, anal, or vaginal sex. I’m a Nurse Practitioner for children and young people and … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 22, 2016 •
My name is Nick Pattison and I would like to share with you a citizen science investigation that I was involved in with my previous school Rongomai Primary, called the Healthy Homes Project. The project was created out of conversations between myself and other community members in Otara about the state of local housing in South Auckland, and was … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 22, 2016 •
Infectious diseases are far from defeated. They pose a unique health threat because they are caused by living micro-organisms. This biological fact has two important consequences: firstly it means that these micro-organisms are constantly evolving to exploit new ecological opportunities, and secondly they are transmissible (they spread from person-to-person and from infected animals and contaminated environments). The constant evolution of … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 22, 2016 •
In another life I used to sit on teams that developed something called ‘clinical guidance’. We would draw together published evidence and make recommendations on what best practice should look like. I sat on one such group for rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever (RF) is a disease now seen mainly in developing countries (apart, of course, from the poor pockets of … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 21, 2016 •
HIV seems like a scourge of the eighties, but today new HIV diagnoses and the costs of medication are escalating out of control in New Zealand. The world’s most dangerous infectious disease epidemic of the modern era is being revived, fuelled by invisibility, indifference and inaction. HIV has a terrifying ability to evolve and evade control when our guard is … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 21, 2016 •
Infertility is defined as the inability for a couple having regular unprotected sexual intercourse to have a baby. Globally, the rate of fertility is declining but infertility still affects one in seven couples in New Zealand. In general, humans are generally not considered to be an especially fertile species, with a potential capability of 20-30% reproductive success with each menstrual … Read More