Given the heavy and unregulated use of antibiotics in LMICs, it is imperative to understand the short and long-term impact of antibiotic use on human gut microbiota and the development of novel AMR variants. This is clearly an important but largely understudied research area.

This is a randomised controlled trial evaluating azithromycin versus ciprofloxacin for the treatment of pediatric dysentery. We are conducting laboratory research on the stool samples collected before and after antibiotic treatment to understand the impact of azithromycin and ciprofloxacin on taxonomic abundance and diversity and the enrichment of preexisting AMR population, and the development of novel AMR variants.

This work is led by Dr Chung The Hao, who is an emerging leading scientist in microbiome research in the context of AMR and diarrhea diseases.