Read our school visit diaries!
10 March 2009
Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, UK
Kim Hardie
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On 10 March 2009 I went into Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School to talk to the upper school about Superbugs. The whole visit was a response to an invite from the school for a talk on this area, and was very ably and professionally organised by the "Buzz team" leader, Judith.
My talk can be summarised as: Superbugs are killing someone every two hours and costing over £1 billion a year. But how do they do it? To answer this, I covered answers to the following questions. Which germs have been identified as superbugs? What features do they have that make them different from other germs? I covered how they move and communicate with each other, acquire antibiotic resistance, and what they use to spread from one person to another as well as how they overcome a new victim. I also tackled who is susceptible to superbugs. Is it all doom and gloom, or can we protect ourselves from Superbugs? And I tried to convey how cutting edge research is moving toward better detection and treatment and considered whether superbugs have anything good to teach us!
I arrived early to give a chance for the students to meet me, and was giving an informative tour of the school. I took along stickers and posters provided free by the Society for General Microbiology as well as a couple of Nottingham University Perspectuses so that the students could consult them afterwards. This all went very well, and I was amazed when around 100 people arrived to hear me talk. These included teachers from the school and also neighbouring schools. In addition there were students from an adjacent Higher Education College and an American Exchange College nearby.
Everyone appeared to enjoy the talk, and for those who might have dozed off mid-way, popping of a balloon filled with stringy and round sweets to simulate an antibiotic bursting through a bacterial cell envelope to release DNA and proteins contained within was a shock! At the end we all joined in to learn the six steps that one should follow to clean one's hands well.
The donation of a couple of experimental kits for the students to witness acquisition of antibiotic resistance at the same time as inducing bacteria to produce light was very excitedly accepted. I am therefore very grateful for the support of SET-Routes since they suggested the gesture and covered the expense of it. Afterwards, lots of people came up to chat and Judith has emailed with some very positive comments.
I am looking forward to feedback from the practical and found it a stimulating experience. It was great to see so many youngsters with ambitions to carry on with science to the highest levels.