Antibiotic resistance has become a matter of critical concern for healthcare providers and public health experts alike. Now, the University of Wisconsin (UW) is attempting to give them a powerful tool for tracking the rise and prevalence of medication-resistant “superbugs.”

Researchers from UW’s School of Pharmacy and Department of Geography are teaming up to build an interactive, digital map of antibiotic resistance.

The system could allow public health officials and hospital systems to take a targeted approach to population health management, reduce patients’ likelihood of acquiring healthcare-associated infections and improve first-line responses to acute, resistant infections.

“We’re working now to transform this data into interactive, weather-like maps that show areas where resistance is changing so that the viewer can have an immediate reaction of where there’s [sic] higher areas of antibacterial resistance,” School of Pharmacy global health fellow Laurel Legenza told the University’s independent student newspaper.

Get the full story here, from The Badger Herald‘s Madeline Boulanger.