Microbe Mail

Microscopy, culture and susceptibility testing (MC&S) is the most commonly requested test of a

Microbiology Laboratory. Here, I give you 5 quick tips to remember when interpreting an MC&S report.

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No guest, but a little more about Microbe Mail host, Vindana Chibabhai

Vin is a mother (2 human babies and 1 fur baby), a wife, a daughter and a sister (1 by blood, others by heart).  

She is also a Medical Microbiologist, who qualified in 2011 and has worked at the National Health Laboratory Service Microbiology Laboratory at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital since qualifying. She also holds an MMed in Microbiology and has recently enrolled for a PhD. She is a senior lecturer in the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Vin’s research interests are focussed on antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship, healthcare associated infections, fungal infections and enhancement of microbiology data analysis and access. She has published several peer reviewed articles ad supervised a number of MMed students.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is associated with high morbidity and mortality but is often not diagnosed or managed appropriately. On this episode, the host of Microbe Mail, Dr Vindana Chibabhai, asks Dr Michelle Venter to answer important questions related to appropriate diagnosis and management of SAB.

Here is a link to the SAASP Guidelines

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About our guest Dr. Michelle Venter

Michelle Venter is an Infectious Diseases Physician based at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg.

She qualified as a medical doctor at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2007, and completed both her internship and community service training at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. She then specialised as an adult Physician, and subspecialised as an Infectious Diseases Physician at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

She then returned to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital to work full-time in the Division of Infectious Diseases, within the Department of Internal Medicine, where she is head of the TB program at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.

She is an Arthur Ashe fellow and has research interests in the gut microbiome, antimicrobial stewardship and the interaction between the innate immune system and infectious diseases.

Her lockdown activities include ongoing COVID-19 research, cello playing and a rediscovered appreciation for sago pudding and jazz music.

This is an important episode highlighting the concern of antimicrobial resistance (AMR and how to use antimicrobial appropriately (through antimicrobial stewardship) to combat AMR. In this episode of Microbe Mail, host Dr Vindana Chibabhai (Vin) chats to Sonya Kolman, a clinical pharmacist based at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa about what makes antimicrobials different from other medication, and what the quality indicators are of antimicrobial use.

Read more about the WHO AWaRe classification of antibiotics here

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About our guest Sonya Kolman

Graduated from Wits with a BPharm degree in 1989. She completed her MScMed (clinical pharmacy) 1997.

Sonya was employed at Netcare Linksfield as the clinical pharmacist since Mid-2010 until April 2017. She successfully implemented the antibiotic stewardship programme at Netcare Linksfield in the ICU and roll out to the rest of the hospital is underway. She was part of the Netcare leadership group for antibiotic stewardship.

Sonya moved to the Nelson Mandela Children Hospital as the clinical pharmacist in 2017. There, she is responsible for clinical pharmacy activities in the hospital especially in the NICU and PICU. She is responsible for all antimicrobial stewardship activities in the hospital and is chairperson of the hospital’s AMS committee. Sonya is a founding member of the Society of Clinical pharmacy (SASOCP). She was the chairperson 2011 – 2015, Vice chairperson 2016-2019 and national treasurer from 2019-2021

She is an external examiner for the MscMed clinical pharmacy programme at Medunsa university, a part time lecturer at School Pharmacy Wits University and a member the Gauteng Antimicrobial stewardship committee and part of the guideline subcommittee.

Twitter: @Sonya_kolman

Nelson Mandela Children’s hospital Twitter: @_NMCH_

Nelson Mandel Children’s hospital website

In this episode of Microbe Mail, host Vindana Chibabhai (Vin) chats to Prof Guy Richards about searching for the source of infection. Prof Richards shares his clever and easy to follow mnemonic with listeners as well as a step by step guide to searching for the source.

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Professor Richards: Twitter: @ProfGuyRichards

Professor Guy Richards is Emeritus Professor of Critical Care and Pulmonology at the University of the Witwatersrand and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

Professor Richards was awarded his medical degree in 1978, specialised in internal Medicine in 1985 and subsequently qualified as a pulmonologist and intensivist. He was awarded his PhD in Medicine in 1992 from the University of Witwatersrand. He was awarded the Mandela Medal in Gold by the president for distinguished service related to the passing of Nelson Mandela: 2014 December

Professor Richards has twice been the Co-Chairman of the South African national Critical Care and Thoracic Society Congress and was chairman again in 2015.  He has been invited to speak at numerous meetings on pulmonology and intensive care and has given well over 500 invited presentations at national and international congresses.

Professor Richards has been awarded best research paper, best presentation and best publication on a number of occasions at congresses of the SA Thoracic Society (SATS) and the SA Critical Care Society of Southern Africa (CCSSA), most recently in 2019.

To date, he has authored 11 book chapters and 206 peer reviewed, indexed scientific papers.  His RG score on ResearchGate is 42.65 and his research has been cited 3793 times. His “h index” is 35 and 34 excluding self citations. He was elected as a member of the SA Academy of Sciences in 2020

He has been Chairman of the Pharmacy and therapeutic Committee at CMJAH and is chairman of the Gauteng Provincial formulary committee for the Provincial Pharmacy and Therapeutic committee. He is currently a reviewer for many international and local journals

Do you sometimes look at a Microbiology report and wonder if the microbiologist made up the tongue-twister of a microbe name you’re reading on the report? In this episode, we unpack the differences between contaminants, commensals and colonisers in the common specimen types – urine, respiratory samples and blood cultures.

Spotlight feature: mini microbe message

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Guest: Dr Yogandree Ramsamy  

Dr Yogandree Ramsamy is a Clinical Microbiologist at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Dr Ramsamy is extremely passionate about AMR and implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs). Currently a member of several local and international committees related to Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) and Infection Prevention and Control, Dr Ramsamy is committed to the fight against AMR. Appointed by the Head of Health in KZN to serve on the KZN Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Committee, Dr Ramsamy engages with various stakeholders to promote the concept of AMS within the KZN public health sector in line with the South African National AMR Strategy. As a lecturer and currently pursuing a PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal reviewing Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) in a One Health perspective, she is passionate about making a difference and contributing to academic progress. Creating awareness of a bleak future without the prospects of lifesaving antimicrobials, mentoring up and coming individuals who are equally passionate about saving antimicrobials for future generations is one of her greatest ambitions.

In this episode of Microbe Mail, we go through everyday things that every healthcare practitioner should and shouldn’t do in infection prevention and control practices.

Guest: Professor Adriano G Duse

Adriano G Duse is the Professor and Head of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in the School of Pathology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.  

He is a passionate about education and teaches under- and postgraduate students in the Faculty.  He is the recipient of teaching awards and nominations such as the Phillip V Tobias Medal/Convocation Distinguished Teacher’s Award, the Daubenton Prize for Distinguished Teaching in Medical Microbiology and the Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Award. 

Professor Duse has also received the James Gear Medal for Academic Excellence. In 2005 he introduced the training of infection control nurses in the form of an ‘Advanced Diploma in Infection Control’ consisting of a two year training course in conjunction with the Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences.

Prof Duse served as a Southern African Chair for the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP).  GARP is a project of the Centre for Diseases Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) which works to create greater awareness among policymakers in low-middle income countries about the growing threat of antibiotic resistance and to develop country-relevant issues. 

Professor Duse expertise in viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) started in 1996 and resulted in him being appointed by the World Health Organisation, Geneva, to act as expert consultant and provide education to health care staff and case management during the 2005 Angolan Marburg viral haemorrhagic fever outbreak and the 2006/7 Kenyan Rift Valley fever outbreak.  In December 2012 he was appointed WHO short-term consultant for the Infection Control Group for the Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreak response team in Uganda.  In 2014-15 he was deployed to Liberia, Sierra Leone & Nigeria in his capacity as an Ebola haemorrhagic fever expert. Subsequently, Professor Duse was appointed a member of the WHO Global Infection Prevention and Control Task Team. In addition to VHFs, Professor Duse has been actively involved at national level in the South African National Task Team to curb the transmission of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in detainees in South African prison cells and correctional facilities.

Professor Duse has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific publications, of which close on 80 are PubMed listed, several chapters of textbooks and is an invited speaker and has presented extensively at both local and international scientific conferences. Professor Duse has a special interest in Travel Medicine and is an EXCO member of the South African Society of Travel Medicine and was appointed Chair of the Scientific Organizing Committee for the 2016 (last year) and 2018 international scientific meetings in this discipline.

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Prof Duse:

Website: Wits University

Facebook:

The Anti-Pestilence League

Adriano’s Sunday Concerts,

Adriano Duse

In this episode of Microbe Mail, we tackle 8 common myths related to blood culture collection, processing and interpretation.

Guest: Dr Trusha Nana is a clinical microbiologist based at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has a keen interest in C.difficile infections, antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship.

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IDSA Microbiology laboratory guidelines: here 

The interface between the clinician and the laboratory is critical in ensuring appropriate specimen collection, and appropriate processing. In this, our first episode of Microbe Mail, the host of Microbe Mail, Vindana Chibabhai, chats to a Microbiologist and an infectious diseases fellow about the laboratory cycle and how we can bridge the gap between the bench and the bedside in the diagnosis of infections.  

Spotlight feature: 21:30 (Microbe True or False)

Guests: Dr Kessendri Reddy and Dr Lyle Murray

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Dr Kessendri Reddy is a microbiologist working at the National Health Laboratory Services Tygerberg/Stellenbosch University, in Cape Town, South Africa. She completed her MBChB in 2008 at the University of KwaZulu Natal, qualified as a clinical microbiologist in 2017 and graduated with an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology in 2020. While she is enthusiastic about almost all aspects of her discipline, her special interests lie in “knowledge translation” and practical application from the laboratory to the clinical environment, teaching and training of healthcare workers on specific aspects of the discipline, and involvement in research activities. She believes that clinical microbiologists have a major role to play in low and middle income countries where infectious diseases exert a substantial burden on the healthcare system.

Dr Lyle Murray is a specialist physician and a Fellow in Infectious Diseases at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Wits University. He completed his MBChB at the University of Cape Town, his MMed at Wits University and his DPhil at the University of Oxford. He has interests in the immunology of infectious diseases including HIV, TB and COVID-19. He believes that the communication between clinician and microbiologist is key to improving the use and interpretation of microbiological investigations.

Welcome to Microbe Mail - a medical podcast about Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Here, Vin gives an overview about this podcast and what you can expect to hear on Microbe Mail episodes.

Website: Microbe Mail

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