A recent shocking news reported that a patient died from an infection, which was initially diagnosed as sore throat.

I remembered, some years ago, I discussed with my students in BCHE4030 Clinical Biochemistry about the possibility of deadly sore throats caused by the infections of ‘superbugs’, and this speculation became real in 2017!

‘Superbugs’ usually refer to antibiotics-resistant bacteria (and the flesh-eating bug in the news might not necessarily be drug resistant though). In Hong Kong, the incidence of superbug infections in recent years has become alarming; indeed, if we cannot effectively control the development of these bacteria, more and more ‘deadly sore throats’ could be anticipated.

I believe one of the measures to cope is through education; and that is why I often include topics (such as ‘infections’ and ‘antibiotics-resistant bacteria’) in my lectures. Hopefully, the students gain more related scientific knowledge (for example, plasmids and bacterial conjugation) and help spread the message to the society to promote the awareness of the danger of ‘superbugs’.

(Photo credit: wikipedia)