KIU, Western Campus – KIU Teaching Hospital Microbiologist, Dr. Theophilus Pius, is using micro-organisms to spread the right information about COVID-19.

Dr. Theophilus uses the micro-organisms to create letters and words, which have messages aimed at creating awareness about COVID-19 and encouraging people to mind about their safety from the disease.

He then posts pictures of words made up of these micro-organisms on the various social media platforms he subscribes to, which include medical laboratory scientists, students, KIU staff and the general public as his audience.

Also doubling as the Head of Laboratory Services at KIU Teaching Hospital, Dr. Theophilus says his love for microbiology inspired him to start this initiative.

“When you really love what you do, it becomes easier to use your expertise in that field to make an impact in society,” Dr. Theophilus says.

“So, I was inspired by the fact that I could use micro-organisms to spread the message about COVID-19,” he adds.

Dr. Theophilus feels that since COVID-19 is a universal problem, everyone in their respective field should use what they have at hand to help in the fight against this pandemic, which has already killed more than 500,000 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

“Wherever we find ourselves, we have a role to play using what we have at hand to pass on a message because people can be influenced by what we are doing,” Dr Theophilus says.

He adds that he is not scared of infection from playing around with these micro-organisms because as a laboratory professional, he is trained on bio-safety and bio-security and ensures that he always adorns the necessary Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) when using pathogens to create these messages.