Infectious Diseases
Describing the molecular epidemiology of vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE) at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
Supervisors: Associate Professor Caroline Marshall, Associate Professor Ben Cowie, Professor Ben Howden
Project Site: Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunology/Royal Melbourne Hospital
Contact: Caroline Marshall E: caroline.marshall@mh.org.au
Project description: Vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE) has become an established hospital acquired pathogen since the 1990s. It may colonise asymptomatic patients, but also may be a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In Australia, up until recently, the predominant genotype has been vanB VRE, however, in recently years, we have seen increasing numbers of the vanA genotype. At The Royal Melbourne Hospital, vanB VRE is now endemic, despite many years of attempting to control its spread, and we have recently had an outbreak of vanA VRE affecting several wards. This outbreak was controlled by using strict infection control precautions, yet these seemed to have no effect on the rates of vanB VRE. We have collected data on our VRE isolates for many years, including antibiotic sensitivity patterns, ribotyping and other clinical, infection control and epidemiological data.
This study will involve describing the molecular epidemiology of VRE at the Royal Melbourne Hospital to document the effect of our interventions on both vanA and vanB VRE. It will involve correlating ribotyping data with clinical and epidemiological information and performing statistical analysis of the outbreak. This project will use skills in microbiology, molecular typing, epidemiology and statistics.
Monitoring the efficacy of a training program in gastroenterology in the Pacific - also offered as MBiomedSc
Supervisors: Professor Finlay Macrae
Project Site: Department of Colorectal Medicine and Genetics, The Royal Melbourne Hospital
Contact: Professor Finlay Macrae T: +61 3 9347 0788 E: Hfinlay.macrae@mh.org.au
Project Description: Diseases in the GI tract are common in the South Pacific. GI Endoscopy access is limited, and training even less available. In association with the World Gastroenterology Organization, we have recently introduced a training program in gastroenterology to support postgraduate training in gastroenterology at the Fiji School of Medicine, with expertise provided from Australia. The project is designed to monitor the effects of this across the South Pacific, through documentation of higher levels of service delivery in the region, epidemiology of disease detection (eg helicobacter pylori) and skills' acquisition by graduates of the program that can be applied in remote communities in the South Pacific with high GI disease burdens.
The applicant would be required to visit South Pacific regions to assess qualitatively and quantitavely, disease burdens and the provision of services to address these needs, with a view to reports for Faculty, the Gastroenterological Society of Australia, the World Gastroenterology Organization and the Australian Government (AusAid).