Fighting Infectious Disease and Antibiotic Resistance
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- Published on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 09:44
Infectious disease is a rapidly increasing societal and medical problem. Old as well as new emerging micro-organisms cause suffering and increased costs for treatment of humans and animals. In order to prevent the spread and effects of infections - Uppsala invests in One Health. The concept is based on the fact that animals - wild and domestic- as well as humans to a large extent are exposed to the same contagious viruses, parasites and bacteria, including those resistant to antibiotics, and that all of these therefore need to be treated with a wide ecological perspective.
In order to meet these challenges and fight infection there is a need for close collaboration between different disciplines. In Uppsala, world-leading expertise within human and veterinary medicine, ecology and microbiology is already in place to fight infection and antibiotic resistance. Uppsala university has a solid longstanding research tradition of drug development in close cooperation with industry, which is a prerequisite for the development of new drugs, such as antibiotics, against infections.
In a new cooperative constellation all these research disciplines, together with networks such as Infection Ecology & Epidemiology Network (a university project initiated in 2010), ReAct (a global network initiated in 2006 to fight antibiotic resistance) and RAPID (a centre for development of new antibiotics), make a joint effort for One Health - through research and development - to find new efficient ways for society, to prevent, fight and cure infection under the banner “Fighting Infection for Society and Health”.