Microbe Mail
Vindana Chibabhai
All episodes
Best episodes
Top 10 Microbe Mail Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Microbe Mail episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Microbe Mail for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Microbe Mail episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
What's all the buzz about?
Microbe Mail
08/20/24 • 32 min
In a world of emerging and eradicated pathogens, how has Malaria remained such a successful infection? Since its earliest description as "bad air", this mosquito-driven hazard has remained lethal in some populations and regions. This episode addresses significant updates in its epidemiology, tips on diagnostics, some commentary on the vaccine and a lot more.
About our Guest:
Dr. Jaishree Raman is a molecular biologist by training with a strong interest in malaria and public health. Jaishree currently heads the Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research (ARMMOR) at the NICD. The core focus of ARMMOR is to improve malaria diagnostic and treatment options and to assist South Africa and Africa eliminate malaria. To this end, ARMMOR hosts the South African National Surveillance Programme for Antimalarial Drug and Diagnostic Resistance Monitoring. As the chair of the case management sub-committee of the South African Malaria Elimination Committee, Jaishree has developed and delivered training courses aimed at capacitating the malaria programme staff on case management protocols and practices. She is a member of several regional networks, such as the Elimination 8 and Pathogen Diversity Network Africa, that are aiming to strengthen malaria genomic and bioinformatics capacity across Africa. She co-developed a leadership and management course for malaria elimination targeting malaria programme staff currently being delivered by GIBBS and the University of Pretoria and is also a mentor on the recently launched Pan-African Malaria Control Association (PAMCA) LiftHerUp initiative, which is focussing on increasing African women leaders in science, with a major focus on vector-borne diseases.
Some resources from this episode:
- R21/Matrix-M vaccine: Phase 3 trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38310910/
- RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine: first results https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22007715/
- RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine: final results https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60721-8
WE'D LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THIS EPISODE –
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
Follow on:
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
X/Twitter: @microbemail
Facebook: MicrobeMail
Tiktok: @microbe.mail
Watch this episode on our new YouTube channel: Microbe Mail
E-mail us: [email protected]
Group A Streptococcus
Microbe Mail
05/24/22 • 32 min
A very successful pathogen - one that causes a spectrum of disease, from asymptomatic to life-threatening. On this episode we talk about Group A Streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes), the various types of infections that it causes and how to manage them.
About our Guest:
Dr Yesholata Mahabeer is a principal pathologist currently based
at National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) KwaZulu Natal academic complex at
Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban. She studied medicine at the
University of KwaZulu Natal. She subsequently completed her fellowship in microbiology
in 1999 followed by Masters in Medical Microbiology in 2015. She has worked in
several laboratories NLHS laboratories in Durban over the past 20 years. She
currently oversees paediatrics, neurosurgery and haematology wards. Her interests
include neurosurgical infections, mycology and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
She plays an active role in undergraduate and post graduate microbiology
training.
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
E-mail: [email protected]
YouTube: Microbe Mail
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
Pinterest: @mailmicrobe
"Would you rather?" The Antibiotics version
Microbe Mail
05/28/24 • 46 min
We're back with another game of 'Would you rather?' Where we pose a scenario, and our guests give us their views. This episode really challenges the basis of some of the beliefs and practices regarding antimicrobials. Some of the questions are so tricky, who knows if there even is a correct answer. What we do know is... it depends.
About our Guest:
Prof. Andrew Whitelaw worked as a consultant pathologist in clinical microbiology at Groote Schuur Hospital from 2003 – 2012. In December 2012 took up the post of Head of Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Stellenbosch / Tygerberg Hospital. His early research revolved around molecular characterization of ESBLs in members of the Enterobacteriaceae, and he has been involved in a number of studies and activities related to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and infection control over the last decade, both for community as well as hospital acquired pathogens. Most relevant among these would be his involvement in the South African Antibiotic Stewardship Programme (SAASP), The Infection Control Society of Southern Africa, and the SA Ministerial Advisory Committee on AMR.
Ongoing research interests focus on antimicrobial resistance in Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus aureus, including molecular epidemiology and mechanisms of resistance as well as clinical impact and control of AMR. He is also involved in studies describing the human microbiota and in particular the effect of antimicrobials on the microbiota.
Resources from this episode:
SASCM C. difficile infection guidelines
WE'D LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THIS EPISODE –
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
Follow on:
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
X/Twitter: @microbemail
Facebook: MicrobeMail
Tiktok: @microbe.mail
Watch this episode on our new YouTube channel: Microbe Mail
E-mail us: [email protected]
Don't forget to also have a listen to these featured episodes:
Episode 43: Communicating antimicrobial therapy to patients
Episode 38: Would you rather?: The mycology version
Episode 35: Would you rather?: The virology version
Episode 33: Would you rather?:The Bacterial version
HIV in South Africa: Part 2
Microbe Mail
04/16/24 • 29 min
Professor Francois Venter is back in Part 3 of our HIV series in which he continues to address South Africa's battles against HIV. Here he discusses his experience on how and when to initiate antiretroviral therapy, prophylaxis against opportunistic infection, routine monitoring and what the future of HIV management looks like in South Africa.
About our Guest:
Professor WD Francois Venter, MD, FCP, PhD is Executive Director of Wits Ezintsha at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he received most of his training. His work involves health systems research and clinical trials, most recently involving the antiretrovirals dolutegravir, tenofovir alafenamide, cabotegravir, and doravirine. He leads multiple antiretroviral treatment optimisation studies and is currently working on new access programmes through private pharmacies within South Africa, patient linkage-to-care interventions, self-testing projects, as well as most recently on new large-scale primary care delivery platforms addressing hypertension, diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidaemia and HIV. He has led large PEPFAR-funded HIV programmes in South Africa, focusing on men, women, children, young people, truckers, sex workers, and LGBTI communities. For over 20 years he has been an advisor to bodies such as the South African government, UNAIDS, and WHO, contributing to international, regional, and national HIV guidelines, and recently served as a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee for COVID-19. He has an active interest in medical ethics and has been involved in several HIV-related human rights cases within the southern African region. He supervises Masters and PhD students and has over 200 publications, including first-author articles in major journals.
Resources:
Southern African HIV Clinicians Society guidelines for antiretroviral therapy in adults:2023 update
Liverpool HIV Drug Interactions Checker
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
Follow on:
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
X/Twitter: @microbemail
Facebook: MicrobeMail
Tiktok: @microbe.mail
Watch this episode on YouTube: Microbe Mail
E-mail us: [email protected]
WE'D LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THIS EPISODE!
05/07/24 • 53 min
The rampant emergence of antimicrobial resistance, particularly amongst Gram negative organisms, has called for both the discovery of novel agents but also for a review of therapeutics thought to have been long lost in this battle. Enter, the "BLBLIs or BLICs'. In this episode Vin and Ruan speak with the 1st author of the publication "Appropriate use of the new β-lactam - β-lactamase inhibitor combination agents: Ceftazidime-avibactam and Ceftolozane-tazobactam in South Africa", Professor Adrian Brink, and receive a welcomed masterclass on this interesting group of antimicrobials.
About our Guest:
Professor Adrian Brink is Head of the Division: Medical Microbiology, and member of the Institute of Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town and the National Health Laboratory Services, Groote Schuur hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Prof Brink was founding President of the Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of Southern Africa and is the founder and currently co-chairs the South African Antibiotic Stewardship Program (SAASP). Prof Brink currently serves on the South African Minister of Health’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on Antimicrobial Resistance and representing Africa, is a member of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases International Affairs Subcommittee.
His is main research interests are the clinical and molecular epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant infections, the mechanisms of resistance as a confounder in antibiotic stewardship, the design and implementation of large-scale antibiotic stewardship, diagnostic stewardship and infection prevention and control interventions in low- and middle-income countries. His interests also include the protective, metabolic and immune functions of the gastrointestinal and vaginal biome including the resistome and metabolome.
Resources from this episode
Table 1: Data on inhibitor classes, inhibitory mechanisms, and current clinical trial status, Kar D et al., 2023.
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
Follow on:
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
X/Twitter: @microbemail
Facebook: MicrobeMail
Tiktok: @microbe.mail
Watch this episode on our new YouTube channel: Microbe Mail
E-mail us: [email protected]
-WE'D LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THIS EPISODE –
HIV in South Africa: Part 1
Microbe Mail
04/09/24 • 45 min
Part 2 of our HIV series addresses South Africa's battles against HIV as we get an account of the complexities of diagnosis, prophylaxis, and managing opportunistic infections from a celebrated HIV clinician, Professor Francois Venter.
About our Guest:
Professor WD Francois Venter, MD, FCP, PhD is Executive Director of Wits Ezintsha at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he received most of his training. His work involves health systems research and clinical trials, most recently involving the antiretrovirals dolutegravir, tenofovir alafenamide, cabotegravir, and doravirine. He leads multiple antiretroviral treatment optimisation studies and is currently working on new access programmes through private pharmacies within South Africa, patient linkage-to-care interventions, self-testing projects, as well as most recently on new large-scale primary care delivery platforms addressing hypertension, diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidaemia and HIV. He has led large PEPFAR-funded HIV programmes in South Africa, focusing on men, women, children, young people, truckers, sex workers, and LGBTI communities. For over 20 years he has been an advisor to bodies such as the South African government, UNAIDS, and WHO, contributing to international, regional, and national HIV guidelines, and recently served as a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee for COVID-19. He has an active interest in medical ethics and has been involved in several HIV-related human rights cases within the southern African region. He supervises Masters and PhD students and has over 200 publications, including first-author articles in major journals.
Resources:
SA HIV Clinicians society website
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
Follow on:
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
X/Twitter: @microbemail
Facebook: MicrobeMail
Tiktok: @microbe.mail
Watch this episode on YouTube: Microbe Mail
E-mail us: [email protected]
WE'D LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THIS EPISODE!
Bridging the gap
Microbe Mail
09/14/21 • 29 min
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
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
E-mail: [email protected]
YouTube: Microbe Mail
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
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.
10/12/21 • 38 min
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.
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
E-mail: [email protected]
YouTube: Microbe Mail
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
Prof Duse:
Website: Wits University
Facebook:
Is this culture a contaminant?
Microbe Mail
10/26/21 • 19 min
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
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
E-mail: [email protected]
YouTube: Microbe Mail
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
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.
Recapping Memorable Microbe Moments
Microbe Mail
02/11/25 • 27 min
This episode gives a nod to the show's history while also hinting at the variety of topics discussed. A Journey Through the Microscopic World – Highlights from some memorable episodes
Episodes featured in this recap:
- EP 49: No spleen, how mean! - Asplenia_ Antibiotic prophylaxis
- EP 59: What's all the buzz about_ Malaria diagnostics
- EP 33: Would you rather, the antibiotics version_ Empiric therapy for community acquired meningitis
- EP 50: HIV in the USA _ Diagnosing HIV in the USA
- EP 58: Findings from FIDSSA part 2_ Rabies update and outbreak response
- EP 44: Highlights from the PathRed Congress 2023 - Part 1_Emerging viral infections
- EP 62: Myco-moments: Interviews from the 4th AIDS-related Mycoses Workshop: The immunology of Oral candidiasis
- EP 61: "Prescription Ice cream" Book review and interview: Advice to young medical doctors and students
- EP 53 : Appropriate use of β-lactam - β-lactamase inhibitor combinations _ Rapid genetic testing, know your syndromic antibiograms, and diagnostic stewardship
WE'D LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THIS EPISODE –
Visit the Microbe Mail website to sign up for updates
Follow on:
Instagram: Microbe_Mail
X/Twitter: @microbemail
Facebook: MicrobeMail
Tiktok: @microbe.mail
Watch this episode on our new YouTube channel: Microbe Mail
E-mail us: [email protected]
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
Featured in these lists
FAQ
How many episodes does Microbe Mail have?
Microbe Mail currently has 72 episodes available.
What topics does Microbe Mail cover?
The podcast is about Health & Fitness, Medicine, Podcasts and Education.
What is the most popular episode on Microbe Mail?
The episode title 'Cholera - Rapid Review' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Microbe Mail?
The average episode length on Microbe Mail is 35 minutes.
How often are episodes of Microbe Mail released?
Episodes of Microbe Mail are typically released every 21 days.
When was the first episode of Microbe Mail?
The first episode of Microbe Mail was released on Aug 12, 2021.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ