PubMLST Forum event (STD)

PubMLST Forum (STD): Using PubMLST to help us combat sexually transmitted bacterial diseases

The event was held on Friday 11th June at 2.00- 4.00 pm GMT+1, via Zoom. The event can be accessed and views on the PubMLST Youtube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd8teVn_3WjfPiHMswjHprp976nd1P576

--- Or watch directly further down in the embedded video on this page. 

Sexually transmitted bacterial diseases (STDs) are a major public health concern, as these can have a serious impact on the health and wellbeing of affected individuals. If left undiagnosed and untreated, STDs can cause multiple complications and long-term health problems, ranging from adverse pregnancy outcomes to neonatal and infant infections, and cardiovascular and neurological damage.

This is particularly concerning as, worldwide, the WHO estimates that around 1 million new sexually transmitted infections are acquired every day. In England, gonorrhoea and syphilis diagnoses have risen by 277% and 199% since 2010, with a 49% increase in Chlamydia trachomatis diagnoses. The rising trend in STDs is compounded by an increasing prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae and Treponema pallidum subsp. Pallidum strains exhibiting antimicrobial resistance. This worrying trend has galvanised public health authorities worldwide into action leading to improved diagnostic services, increased public awareness of STDs and enhanced surveillance.  

The aim of this forum is to gather researchers with an interest in STDs and collectively establish how the PubMLST infrastructure, a leading platform in providing molecular epidemiology tools, can support STD surveillance. This online meeting focuses on STDs caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and Treponema pallidum subsp. Pallidum and consists of a series of invited talks which describe how PubMLST has been used for these organisms.

Speakers:

Dr Ana Cehovin, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford.

Professor Deborah Dean, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.

Dr Linda Grillová, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridgeshire, UK

Dr Odile Harrison, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford

Jolinda de Korne, GGD, Amsterdam

Anastasia Unitt, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford.