The first quarterly Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center seminar and poster session, Antibiotic Resistance: National Priorities for Urgent Action, was held August 19 in the Emory Health Sciences Research Building. The keynote speech was given by Arjun Srinivasan, MD, associate director of Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention Programs, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and adjunct associate professor of medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Srinivasan described antibiotic resistance–which causes roughly 23,000 deaths in the United States each year–as a “national security crisis.”
From Lab Land, the Emory Health Sciences Research blog: “Tackling antibiotic resistance has to take into account the habits of physicians, the expectations of patient[s], improved surveillance and antibiotic overuse in agriculture, as well as research on new antibiotics and detecting dangerous bacteria. In short, it’s both a science and [a] policy issue.”
Dr. Srinivasan concluded his talk with a call to arms, saying that the fight against antibiotic resistance will require a coordinated effort on the part of health care facilities across the country.
Related Links
• Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center
• Arjun Srinivasan, MD (CAPT, USPHS)
• Lab Land (Emory Health Sciences Research blog)
• Emory University Department of Medicine
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Emory University School of Medicine
