Superbug Zone hosts HPRU at Imperial Festival

Visitors flocked to the Superbug Zone where HPRU, ARC and EMBRACE showcased their work

The weekend of the 6-7 May saw visitors queuing to enter the Superbug Zone at the annual Imperial Festival. The NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Healthcare Associated Infection (HCAI) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in collaboration with the Antimicrobial Research Collaborative (ARC) and EMBRACE hosted four interactive stands over the Festival weekend.

Visitors were invited to roll the dice and play a game of infection Snakes and Ladders, highlighting the importance of taking antibiotics responsibly and the causes of antimicrobial resistance. Children and adults alike who played learned how not completing a course of antibiotics would result in slipping down the snake and in contrast refusing to stock pile antibiotics would enable the player to climb the ladder to the top.

The stand ‘How clean are your hands?’ was equally popular with members of the public who learned that people carry 3200 bacteria of 150 types on their hands and that one of the main ways bacteria is transferred is by the hands. Participants were invited to apply pretend bacteria in the form of glow gel to their hands and then asked to wash their hands and return to the stand to see how well they had washed them. Under a makeshift dark room which proved immensely popular with children, HPRU team members checked hands with a UV torch for traces of glow gel that were not washed off. Participants with very dirty hands were directed to our Pledge Wall stand that was run in collaboration with ARC.

Members of the public were asked to ‘Make a pledge and Save the World’ at the ARC and HPRU collaborative stand. The stand based on the Antibiotic Guardian campaign raised awareness about AMR and encouraged participants to make a simple pledge about how they will make better use of antibiotics and help save these vital medicines from becoming obsolete.  Giant, soft toy bacteria at the stand were an instant hit with children who learned about what it means when they become resistant. Children, adults and families alike were asked to make a pledge and stick it to the pledge wall and take a selfie of themselves to tweet at #impfest. Participants were invited to sign up to a pledge on the Antibiotic Guardian website.

The aim of the activities was to raise awareness on the appropriate use of antibiotics and good hand hygiene in an engaging and fun way.