Keeping our aged citizens safe from ‘superbug’ attacks

Professor Anton Peleg, Head of CCS's Infectious Diseases department

Failing to contain ‘superbugs’ across nursing homes can have serious consequences, as the elderly population of nursing homes have a greater vulnerability to health concerns than younger people.

Researchers from Monash University, Alfred Health, Bio21 and the University of Sydney have received $2.3 million in federal and university funding to start a national trial involving residential aged care facilities. This trial aims to determine the amount of antibiotic-resistant bacteria within these facilities, and how best practice antibiotic use can control the rise of these ‘superbugs’. The team is led by Professor Anton Peleg, Head of Department of Infectious Diseases, Central Clinical School (CCS) and research group leader in the Department of Microbiology in the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.