Creative reactions: buildings, broadway and the antibiotic apocalypse

Hospitals haven’t always been the way we think of them today. There’s good reason to think they may be different in the future. Most of them were built in the knowledge that infections could be kept at bay, partly, through antibiotic treatment. But many of the antibiotics that came to define modern medicine have begun to spectacularly fail. We now need to look at new ways of living with bugs. This talk outlines a short history of hospital architecture from the ‘pre-antibiotic era’, to the ‘anti-biotic era’ from the mid-20th century, to a possible future ‘post-antibiotic' hospital environment.

Alexander Fleming's death-defying antibiotic drugs have saved us for the last 90 years. But bacterial resistance is growing, doomsday approaches. What better way to fight back than with a musical of epic proportions? The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (with Charades Theatre and the University of Edinburgh) is about to launch a musical called the Mould that Changed the World. We want all schools to benefit from what will be a truly interactive experience, immersing children in the powerful story of antibiotics while also inspiring their peers, siblings, parents, and grandparents