Musicians have their Grammys. Actors have their Emmys. And infectious disease doctors have?nothing like what the entertainment business has. So on Thursday, the U’s department of internal medicine decided to have their own awards ceremony at the School of Medicine.
The department didn’t hire any live performers, but did invite Dr. John Bartlett, chief of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University, to emcee the event. Although Bartlett is more used to talking about bioterrorism than giving out awards, he considers it a once in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“It’s sort of the Academy Awards for infectious diseases,” Bartlett said.
Unlike the Oscars, where an academy votes on nominees, these awards were determined by Bartlett himself. Although he solicited audience input and did a few hand-counts, Bartlett picked several of his winners because he has “something to say about them.”
Most of the nominees were not present to receive their awards. The audience wouldn’t have wanted them there anyway. With names like anthrax, polio and HIV, these bad boys of the microbe world wouldn’t pass through security.
But one winner did sneak in with all the attendees.
“Thirty to 40 percent of you probably have Heliobacter pylori in your stomach,” Bartlett said.
During the past 10 years, researchers discovered that the bacteria Heliobacter pylori causes peptic ulcers and other gastric (stomach) diseases. Because all the awards are based on events during the past 10 years, the revelation made the Heliobacter pylori the “New Bacteria of the Past Decade.”
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, almost swept three categories. The HIV won the new virus category, and the drug AZT, used to treat HIV infections, won the antiviral agent category. Because AIDS has dominated the news in past years, the virus seemed to be a sure thing in the epidemic category, but Bartlett intervened.
“Can’t give it to HIV. It’s already won,” Bartlett said.
The darkhorse Ebola virus took the epidemic category for its enigmatic and attention grabbing power. Bartlett often gives presentations at congressional hearings. Once when he started talking about infectious diseases, some of his audience got confused and dozed off. To rouse the lawmakers, Bartlett played the Ebola card, and the Congress opened their eyes?and their wallets.
“Nobody knows where [the virus] is or when it’d come out,” Bartlett said to the congressional committee. “When it hits, it hits hard. It kills 80 percent of the people [infected].”
Without much hesitation, the awakened and concerned legislators asked, “How much do you guys want?” Bartlett said.
Despite the lighthearted tone of the event, Bartlett used the awards to deliver a message to the audience. Infectious diseases are unpredictable and physicians have to be vigilant and open to new ideas.
“It took 10 years to sell” the idea that Heliobacter pylori causes gastritis and peptic ulcer, Bartlett said. (Scientists were skeptical that a bacteria caused these conditions.) “We couldn’t get anyone interested in anthrax” during the last decade.
“We have to be humble with this list,” Bartlett said about their current knowledge and ability to anticipate new diseases. “No one would have predicted this list.”