Rise of the Superbugs Rise of the Superbugs

There are so many different terms used to talk about antimicrobial resistance - AMR, multidrug resistance, One Health, antibiotic resistance, superbugs. It can be really confusing. In this episode we ask: how can we retell the superbug story? In this final episode of Rise of the Superbugs we're taking you behind the scenes and into the making of this series. It's been a bit of an experiment because it's part journalism and part academic research.

Host and producer: Dr Britta Jorgensen. 

Producers: Sarah Mashman and Silvi Vann-Wall. 

Executive Producer: Professor Mia Lindgren.

Imagine a future where your access to antibiotics is determined by a court. Or where your antibiotic resistant infection is treated by a bacteria-eating virus. In this episode, we're looking back at our pre-antibiotic past and speculating on a post-antibiotic future, including a look at everything from innovative scientific discoveries to architectural possibilities to political solutions.

Host and producer: Dr Britta Jorgensen. 

Producers: Sarah Mashman and Silvi Vann-Wall. 

Executive Producer: Professor Mia Lindgren.

Our backyards are full of resistant microbes. In this episode, we find out how they spread through all living organisms - including our pets, our farm animals and our wildlife. We head to the south coast of Australia for some birdwatching, and find out why migratory birds act as a "canary in the coal mine" for the spread of superbugs in our environment and why we need to pay more attention to this. We speak to vets and pet owners about the use of antibiotics in our much-loved pets. We consider an approach to antimicrobial stewardship known as One Health or 'planetary health' that considers the interconnected health of entire planet - humans, animals and the environment.

Host and producer: Dr Britta Jorgensen. 

Producers: Sarah Mashman and Silvi Vann-Wall. 

Executive Producer: Professor Mia Lindgren.

Do you trust your doctors and pharmacists to give you the right advice about antibiotics? Episode 3 takes us inside the healthcare system to tackle the problem of overprescription. We investigate trust in the practitioner-patient relationship and what happens when that trust is broken - particularly for our vulnerable populations. We look at ways to rebuild it, including social media, working with communities and listening to patients' lived experiences. We ask, who is responsible for the incorrect antibiotic use that contributes to the rise of superbugs? We find that responsibility is shared and requires empowerment rather than blame.

Host and producer: Dr Britta Jorgensen. 

Producers: Sarah Mashman and Silvi Vann-Wall. 

Executive Producer: Professor Mia Lindgren.

Superbugs develop their resistance to antibiotics by mixing and mingling with each other. Many superbugs travel on and in our bodies as we go back and forth overseas. But that isn’t the only way they move. In this episode we find out how superbugs spread in surprising ways and are found in the most remote locations. We find out why some countries are hotspots for resistance and what happens if you become infected with a superbug while travelling.


Have a look at ResistanceMap, where you can see interactive world maps of antibiotic resistance by pathogen and antibiotic use by type in every country.


Here is a link to Dr Isabel Frost’s study:
Isabel Frost, DPhil, Thomas P Van Boeckel, PhD, João Pires, PhD, Jessica Craig, BA, BS, Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD, Global geographic trends in antimicrobial resistance: the role of international travel, Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 26, Issue 8, 2019, taz036, https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taz036

This article from 2019 in the New York Times about superbugs in India’s River Ganges, using powerful photography to capture this issue.


Read about the Beach Bums Survey on antibiotic resistant E. coli in the guts of surfers versus non-surfers here.


Find out why antibiotic resistance is a particularly big challenge in remote Indigenous communities in this article in The Conversation.



Interviewees in this episode:




Surfer Ian Cohen, who is also a climate change activist and speaker on environmental issues.


Dr Isabel Frost, who was working in India for the Centre for Disease Dynamics and Policy, and is now working as a consultant for the World Health Organisation. She’s also part of the Antimicrobial Resistance Fighter Coalition.


AMR activist David Mateo Ricci, who also wrote this piece about his experience contracting a resistant infection in India.


Chennai-based infectious diseases specialist Dr Abdul Ghafur, coordinator of the Chennai Declaration on antimicrobial resistance in developing countries.


Gomis Rugamba, a documentary photographer and visual artist born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, grew up in Rwanda and now living in Australia.

Host and producer: Dr Britta Jorgensen. 

Producers: Sarah Mashman and Silvi Vann-Wall. 

Executive Producer: Professor Mia Lindgren.

Most Australians will use antibiotics in our lifetimes but there is a lot we don’t understand about how they work. In Episode 1 of our series we find out how most of us use antibiotics, what we know about them and what we get wrong. We hear stories about some of the most common uses of antibiotics, the uncertainty about when we need them and the fear that drives us to seek them when we may not, particularly for our children. We learn that antimicrobial resistance is a more complex issue than we can imagine – and why we’re making this podcast.

Here is a link to Davina’s 2020 study:
Role crisis, risk and trust in Australian general public narratives about antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance
There is some great information on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from the Australian government here:
https://www.amr.gov.au
And from the World Health Organisation (WHO):
https://www.who.int/health-topics/antimicrobial-resistance
For more info on World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021 (18-24 November) head here:
https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-antimicrobial-awareness-week/2021

Host and producer: Dr Britta Jorgensen. 

Producers: Sarah Mashman and Silvi Vann-Wall. 

Executive Producer: Professor Mia Lindgren.