The rise of superbugs
This podcast series tells the scary (but solvable) story of superbugs, also known as antimicrobial resistance. It takes us inside our medicine cupboards, waterways, hospitals, backyards, the past and the future. It reveals where the media has gone wrong in telling the superbug story and why we need to retell it.
The rise of superbugs explained – researchers find a new way to speak to us
The rise of superbugs is something everyone should care about. A new six-part podcast series combines storytelling with evidence-based research to increase awareness about one of the great health threats of the 21st century.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming more common and resistant microorganisms, also referred to as ‘superbugs’, can have a significant effect on people and society.
The podcast series is produced by a team of researchers and podcast producers, supported by funding and resources from the Australian Research Council and Swinburne University of Technology. The podcast series is one of the outcomes from the project “Promoting Australian general public awareness and action on antimicrobial resistance” (ARCDP170100937), conducted by social science and media researchers from Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden and University of Strathclyde, Scotland.
Swinburne’s Rise of Superbugs looks at how antimicrobials are used – and overused – and how superbugs can also affect our pets. The podcast series explores how superbugs exist in the natural environment but how antimicrobial resistance is increasingly making infections difficult or impossible to treat.
Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobials are medicines used to treat infections in humans, animals and plants. These include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics. As a result of misuse and overuse, resistance to these medicines is increasing, making infections harder to treat. According to the World Health Organisation, AMR is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity, where, without action, there will be 10 million deaths annually by 2050.
Researching and raising awareness through podcasting
Podcasting has been documented to create engagement with listeners through its focus on human experiences, where voices are spoken directly into the ears of the listener. For a scary topic like AMR, or ‘superbugs’, the researchers decided to focus on storytelling to encourage listeners to stay engaged – to not ‘turn away’. They take a constructive journalism approach to
provide hope and ways that we can participate and change to future.
There are no confronting pictures of infected sores or lost limbs due to antibiotic resistant infections to turn the audience off. Instead, the podcast series aims to keep listeners tuned in by explaining an important, complex and frightening issue in an interesting way. Because this is an issue we all need to know about.
‘People don’t realise what a big problem ‘superbugs’ are. I think the pandemic has taught us the importance of health and looking after ourselves. So learning about how to combat antibiotic resistance will make sense to people,’ says Professor Mia Lindgren, Dean of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education at Swinburne University of Technology and Executive Producer of Rise
of Superbugs.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021: 18–24 Nov 2021
Each year, the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021 aims to raise awareness about threats from resistant antibiotics. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls for ‘Spread Awareness, Stop Resistance’. The podcast series Rise of the Superbugs addresses that call for action, launching during the awareness week.