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A new study, 'Genomic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Vibrio cholerae isolates from Africa: a PulseNet Africa initiative using nanopore sequencing to enhance genomic surveillance', published in Microbial Genomics today outlines the findings from a collaborative workshop to strengthen local capabilities for disease surveillance.

A new study from the Quadram Institute and University of East Anglia into sepsis in neonatal babies has uncovered the secrets of the bacteria’s success in causing this life-threatening condition.

Using genomic sequencing, they have found how certain strains of bacteria that usually live harmlessly on the skin can evade control measures by colonising babies’ guts. This will provide new ways to control this threat to babies’ health.
 

The first ever systematic review of its kind confirms that taking probiotics alongside antibiotics can protect against some of the negative impacts of antibiotics on the human gut microbiome. The review is reported in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, published by the Microbiology Society.

Down in the depths of the ocean, scientists believe they may have discovered a treasure trove. Not a sunken chest filled with gold coins and lost riches, but perhaps something even more valuable. A soon to be published study has revealed that the gut microbiomes of deep-sea fish are teeming with new antimicrobial molecules that could fight common foodborne infections. The findings shed a new light on this previously untapped resource and could one day pave the way for new antimicrobial medicines.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an insidious and silent pandemic that is already happening, when bacteria are exposed to levels of antibiotics that do not kill them, they develop ways to overcome further treatments. The latest figures reveal that an estimated 1.2 million people died in 2019 as a direct result of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and that AMR will cause over 10 million deaths per year by 2050, which is more than deaths from cancer and diabetes combined, and more than the current COVID-19 death toll.

Antimicrobial resistance remains one of the most serious global challenges of our time, with far-reaching impacts on sustainable development, food security and public health. In 2019, an estimated 1.2 million people died as a direct result of antibiotic resistant infections – and the study estimates millions more deaths were indirectly linked. Researchers have now conducted the largest global study to date of antibiotic resistance genes in the human gut microbiome. They found a correlation between the abundance and diversity of resistance genes in healthy people not taking antibiotics and per capita antibiotic use in a country, demonstrating how the impacts of individual antibiotic consumption diffuse throughout the population.

Protein Secretion at the Host-Pathogen Interface is scheduled to take place as an in-person, physical event on 3–4 November 2022 at Riddel Hall in Belfast, UK.

To mark the 75^th anniversary of the Microbiology Society, we embarked on an ambitious project that demonstrates the value and raises the profile of microbiology in addressing the world’s biggest challenges.