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News

25 Mar 2019

Researchers come together to discuss invasive staphylococcal disease in Australia

Leading researchers working in staphylococcal disease in Victoria, came together last week for a symposium focusing on understanding invasive staphylococcal disease in Australia.

Hosted by the Doherty Institute, the symposium explored synergies across projects and created an opportunity to discuss the possibilities that sharing data would help help reduce the burden of staphylococcal disease in Australia. 

Attendees heard presentations from the Doherty Institute, Austin Health’s Infectious Disease Department, and Safer Care Victoria’s newly formed Infection Clinical Network.

Researchers from the Doherty Institute presented a wide range of projects, including; the monitoring of antimicrobial use and appropriateness of use through targeted audits; multi-centre clinical trials collecting data and answering key clinical questions on Staphylococcus aureau bacteraemia, and the use of cutting-edge genomic technologies to detect and assess the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in S. aureus.

Austin Health Infectious Disease Physician and Clinical Microbiologist, Dr Norelle Sherry, Clinician Researcher at the Doherty Institute, presented her work in S. aureus spanning clinical studies, infection prevention and control, and the successful Hand Hygiene Australia program that led to the decrease of rates S. aureus bacteraemia in hospitals across Australia and internationally.

In addition, Safer Care Victoria’s Infection Clinical Network’s Project Lead Louise Hobbs, discussed their focus on reducing S. aureus bloodstream infections from device associated infections, through quality improvement approaches and outcome measures, and the development and implementation of tools and recommendations to drive improvement.

University of Melbourne Professor Ben Howden, Director of the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory at the Doherty Institute, said that the event provided an opportunity for new collaborations to be formed.

“It allowed groups working in staphylococcal disease to discuss the potential of linking laboratory and clinical data for in-depth focused studies to better understand rates, burden and the effect of interventions on staphylococcal disease,” Professor Howden said.

“From here, we will continue to explore possible partnerships and collaborative projects.”