In the news: TQEH gastroenterologist Dr Sam Costello talks about BiomeBank – Australia’s first public stool bank
The Advertiser has a two-page article about Australia's first public stool bank, BiomeBank, established by gastroenterologists Drs Sam Costello and Rob Bryant and located at the Basil Hetzel Institute. Initially the stool is being used in Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMT) to treat patients with Clostridium difficile infection or Ulcerative Colitis.
Stephanee Hermsen was one of Dr Sam Costello's first patients to undergo this novel therapy, and says that "The next day I was better". Despite cure rates of 80-90% in patients with recurrent C.diff. infections who undergo FMT, the reasons it works are not fully understood. Research is underway at the BHI, TQEH, and with collaborators at other SA hospitals, SAHMRI and Flinders University to "...discover links between the gut microbiome and disease and also to determine whether we can improve disease by modifying the gut microbial environment," Dr Costello says.
