Welcome to Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
- Beth Amato - FHS Communications
The mission of the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is to strengthen the disciplines of microbiology and infectious diseases robustly and undeniably impact the diagnosis, treatment, and control of infectious and communicable diseases.
The division within the School of Pathology delivers a comprehensive clinical microbiology and infectious diseases diagnostic and consultative service to academic (teaching) hospitals. Its influence extends to steadfastly promoting high-quality microbiology and infection control and prevention services throughout South Africa.
The department resolutely aims to achieve this through highly qualified professionals, state-of-the-art technology, and globally recognised research. It is resolutely committed to establishing the first speciality fellowship training model in Infectious Diseases for South Africa and the continent.
The staff is intricately involved in training undergraduate students (medical, dental, pharmacy, and nursing) and medical technologists. Postgraduate courses include rigorous training programs for scientists (Master's and PhD degrees), the Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and specialist training programs for registrars aiming to specialise in clinical microbiology.
The division prioritises maximising healthcare delivery to the nation and unflinchingly playing a leading role in addressing the problems of infectious diseases in Southern Africa through comprehensive education and training of all categories of healthcare students and professionals, in-depth research into preventive and control strategies, and unwavering provision of services to affected patients and their families.
Professor Nazir Ismail - Head of Division
Prof Ismail is the Department for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Wits University and the National Health Laboratory Services’ Charlotte Maxeke Academic Complex in Johannesburg, South Africa. He formerly?led the diagnostics team at the World Health Organisation’s Global Tuberculosis (TB) Programme in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was responsible for developing global policies, norms and standards for TB diagnosis and laboratory strengthening. He now provides a supportive role for that work as a WHO consultant. Previously, he headed the Centre for Tuberculosis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, where he was responsible for the surveillance of TB and drug-resistant TB in South Africa and specialised reference-level laboratory services for South Africa. He is a medical doctor by training and specialised in microbiological pathology. Prof Ismail’s experience covers diagnostics, epidemiology, public health responses, and transmission.
Antibiotic custodianship in the time of multi-drug resistance in TB
Globally, TB is once again the leading cause of death by infectious diseases. What is most concerning is that it is now the largest drug-resistant airborne epidemic across the planet. While effective drugs have been developed against the TB-causing bacterium, resistance has now developed.
The various forms of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) often consume more than 50% of national TB budgets despite comprising less than 5–10% of the total TB case-load. The past decade has seen a dramatic change in the DR-TB treatment landscape with the introduction of new diagnostics and therapeutic agents. However, there is limited guidance on understanding and managing various aspects of this complex entity, including the pathogenesis, transmission, diagnosis, management and prevention of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), especially at the primary care physician level.
The Division is dedicated to researching the ongoing science of antimicrobial resistance and multiple drug resistance.