Pomegranate Health

Syphilis is often thought of as a disease from the historic literature, but in August last year, it was declared a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance by Australia’s Chief Medical Officer. Case numbers have grown year on year since it became a notifiable disease in 2004, peaking at around six and a half thousand in 2023. 
Syphilis is sometimes described as ‘the great imitator’ because it can have so many different presentations. And it can hide away for years before revealing itself in one system of the body or other. In this podcast we’ll go over the neurologic, ophthalmic and nephrotic symptoms that can eventuate, and also some worrying examples of congenital transmission seen today. Today’s podcast will expand your library of differential diagnoses and give you confidence to go down the pathway of testing, treatment and contact tracing. It has been disseminated with assistance from ASHM.
Guests
Clinical Professor Louise Owen FRACGP FAChSHM MBBS(Hons) (Statewide Sexual Health Service in Tasmania, Director; University of Tasmania)
Dr Janet Towns FRACP FRACGP AChSHM PhD (Melbourne Sexual Health Centre; Monash University)
Dr Nele Legge FRACP PhD (Liverpool Hospital)
Production
Produced by Mic Cavazzini DPhil. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘A Forest Melody’, ‘Time Traveller’ by Tellsonic, ‘Reconstruct’ by Amaranth Cove and ‘Beat Street’ by VV Campos. Music courtesy of FreeMusicArchive includes ‘Namaste’ by Jason Shaw. Historic poster courtesy of the US Library of Congress Archive.

Editorial feedback kindly provided by members of the Doctors Aidan Tan, Courtney Dowd, Marion Leighton, Lauren Gomes, Rahul Barmanray and Rachel Murdoch. Dissemination of this podcast was supported by ASHM and campaign to Stop Syphilis.

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Contagious Conversations is a new series brought to you by ASID, the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases. Once a month, these podcasts will explore evolving evidence and real-world challenges for the practice of ID medicine. The hope is that you’ll come away with practical knowledge to support your clinical confidence and continuous learning. 
 
Expert guests in this series will come from right across the interface of research, clinical care, and public health. Today we start with a paediatrician from Melbourne and a clinical nurse from the Sunshine Coast, who both make an important contribution to Australia’s National Immunisation Program. As we’ll hear today, public adherence to the NIP has been declining in recent years. In today’s conversation we hear about some of the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in parents and ways to reinspire confidence. 
Guests
Professor Margie Danchin FRACP, PhD (University of Melbourne; the Royal Children’s Hospital; Murdoch Children’s Research Institute)
Wendy Tout (Public Health Unit, Sunshine Coast Health Service)

Host
Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake FRACP (Canberra Hospital; Australian National University; University of New South Wales)
Production
Production supported by Mic Cavazzini DPhil, the ASID Vaccine Special Interest Group chaired by Dr Archana Koirala and staff support from Inge Meggitt. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘Exploring the Lake’ by View Points and ‘Emerlyn’ by Valante. Image copyright with ASID (2026).

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In Pomegranate <<REWIND>> we go back to some classic episodes from the last ten years that have stood the test of time. The first throwback takes us back to 2017 with episodes 20 and 21 titled “Genomics for the Generalist.” While there’s been a flood of genomic discoveries since this story was first published, it’s still a good primer on fundamental concepts and everyday challenges for the physician advising a patient. The expert guests include a genetic pathologist, a clinical geneticist, a genetic counsellor and a medical oncologist.

The podcast covers the different roles for single gene tests and whole genome sequencing, which has become much more accessible. We tackle question of disease risk and how to present uncertain predictive diagnoses to consumers. This is particularly relevant to using genome-wide association studies, which re finding more and more markers with very small associated risks of disease. This increases the likelihood of picking up diagnoses incidental to the ones a clinician might be looking for. The ethics of consenting patients to genome screening and informing them of incidental findings are also discussed.

Chapters
3:04 Mendelian vs multi-gene diseases
6:42 Whole genome sequencing
10:09 Prenatal testing
12:38 What do physicians need to know?
17:07 Pharmacogenomics
19:52 Genetic counselling
22:40 Funding of genetic tests
33:46 Incidental findings
39:13 Consent and privacy issues
Guests (2026 affiliations)
Professor Leslie Burnett FRCPA, FHGSA, FCAP (University of New South Wales; Virtus Health)
Professor Michael Gabbett FRACP (Queensland University of Technolgy; Mendel Genetics)
Associate Professor Kristine Barlowe-Stewart FHGSA (University of Sydney; Children’s Cancer Institute)
Prof David Thomas FRACP PhD (University of New South Wales; Omico)

Production
Produced by Mic Cavazzini DPhil. Music courtesy of FreeMusicArchive includes, 'Cloud Line' by Blue Dot Sessions, 'Is That You or Are You You?' by Chris Zabriskie, First Holes’ by Cory Gray, ‘Brand New World’ by Kai Engel. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘Abyss’ by Luwaks. Image customised for RACP. 
Editorial feedback for 2017 podcast provided by members of the podcast editorial group Dr Pavan Chandrala, Dr Tessa Davis, Dr Rebecca Grainger, Dr Michael Herd, Dr Paul Jauncey, Dr Joseph Lee, Dr Marion Leighton, Dr Anutosh Shee and Dr Ellen Taylor, and Advanced Trainee Dr Katrina Gibson.

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While waiting for COVID-19 vaccines to be rolled out, Australian jurisdictions adopted strong social restrictions to minimise community transmission of the virus. It’s estimated that together, these public health measures spared around 50,000 lives up to December 2022 and that vaccines saved three times as many again. While this public health response the pandemic is described as one of the most effective in the world it did cause unintended social harms and lingering resentment. Our leaders and community need some sober reflection on how to we might respond to the next such pandemic respiratory virus. 
 Over two podcasts we look carefully at the how the cost-benefit calculation stacks up for each of the major interventions.  In Part 1 we discuss the international borders closures and overcooked parochialism between state jurisdictions, and also how messaging around vaccine risks and mandates could be improved. In Part 2 we look at the controversial stay-at-home orders and interruptions to in-person schooling and even the evidence for faces-masks. Ultimately, there are some questions that can’t be answered scientifically, and it is for politicians and the public to decide what the cost of freedom and dignity against human lives left exposed. 
Chapters Part 2
3:38 Social restrictions
16:39 Facemasks
21:19 Missing behavioural and epidemiological data
30:35 Psychological morbidity from social restrictions
39:39 Human rights and moral preparedness

Guests
Professor Paul Kelly FRACP (Australia’s Chief Medical Officer during the pandemic)
Professor Catherine Bennett PhD GAICD (Deakin University; co-author of the “COVID-19 Response Inquiry” )
Professor James McCaw PhD (The University of Melbourne; modeler for the Federal government’s “National Plan”)
Lorraine Finlay PhD (Australian Human Rights Commissioner; co-author of the "Collateral Damage" report)

Production
Produced by Mic Cavazzini DPhil. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘Organic Textures 2’ by Johannes Bornlöf, ‘RGBA’ by Chill Cole, ‘Axon Terminal’ by Out to the World, ‘Soundbed’ by Blue Saga, and ‘Echo (Kerstin Ljungstrom Remix)’ by Bonsaye. Music courtesy of FreeMusicArchive includes ‘Namaste’ by Jason Shaw. Image by Westend61 licenced from GettyImages. Editorial feedback kindly provided by members of the podcast editorial group Dr Rahul Barmanray, Dr Zac Fuller, Dr Aidan Tan, Dr Maansi Dr Arora, Joseph Lee and Fionnuala Fagan.
Add Part 2 to MyCPD as educational activity or visit web page for a transcript and references.

While waiting for COVID-19 vaccines to be rolled out, Australian jurisdictions adopted strong social restrictions to minimise community transmission of the virus. It’s estimated that together, these public health measures spared around 50,000 lives up to December 2022 and that vaccines saved three times as many again. While this public health response the pandemic is described as one of the most effective in the world it did cause unintended social harms and lingering resentment. Our leaders and community need some sober reflection on how to we might respond to the next such pandemic respiratory virus. 
Over two podcasts we look carefully at the how the cost-benefit calculation stacks up for each of the major interventions. In Part 1 we discuss the international borders closures and overcooked parochialism between state jurisdictions, and also how messaging around vaccine risks and mandates could be improved. In Part 2 we look at the controversial stay-at-home orders and interruptions to in-person schooling and even the evidence for faces-masks. Ultimately, there are some questions that can’t be answered scientifically, and it is for politicians and the public to decide what the cost of freedom and dignity against human lives left exposed.

Part 1 Chapters
6:46 Border Closures
35:04 Vaccine Hesitancy

Guests
Professor Paul Kelly FRACP (Australia’s Chief Medical Officer during the pandemic)
Professor Catherine Bennett PhD GAICD (Deakin University; co-author of the “COVID-19 Response Inquiry” )
Professor James McCaw PhD (The University of Melbourne; modeler for the Federal government’s “National Plan”) Lorraine Finlay PhD (Australian Human Rights Commissioner; lead author of the "Collateral Damage" report)

Production 
Produced by Mic Cavazzini DPhil. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘End of the Ocean’ and ‘Raised by Wolves' by Tellsonic, ‘RGBA’ by Chill Cole, ‘Organic Textures 1’ by Johannes Bornlöf and ‘Echo (Kerstin Ljungstrom Remix)’ by Bonsaye. Image by mrs licenced from GettyImages. Editorial feedback kindly provided by members of the podcast editorial group Dr Rahul Barmanray, Dr Zac Fuller, Dr Aidan Tan, Dr Maansi Dr Arora, Joseph Lee and Fionnuala Fagan.
Add Part 1 to MyCPD as educational activity or visit web page for a transcript and references.