Infection prevention that actually sticks
Most infection education ends up in a pamphlet nobody reads. Plague Tags takes a different approach. We turn real microbes into collectible 3D-printed keychains and trading cards, so people keep them, and the science comes along for the ride.
Make the science worth keeping
Infection prevention is some of the most useful health information there is, and also some of the easiest to ignore. Posters fade into the wall. Pamphlets go in the recycling. Plague Tags flips that around by attaching the facts to something people actually want.
Each microbe becomes a character you can hold: a 3D-printed keychain and a collectible trading card. The card carries the real science, and the keychain keeps it close. People collect them, talk about them, and learn without it ever feeling like a lecture.
Every tag that leaves the hospital is a conversation that keeps going, into homes, schools, and workplaces, carried by someone who now knows something real about how infection spreads and how to stop it.
From microscope to keychain
Start with the real microbe
Each character is modelled on the real shape of the microbe as it looks under an electron microscope, so the art is rooted in actual biology.
Turn it into something to keep
The microbe is 3D-printed as a keychain and paired with a collectible trading card, designed to be wanted, traded, and held onto.
Add facts you can trust
Every card carries evidence-based, pathogen-specific prevention, medically reviewed and written to be accurate for all ages.
Go deeper online
This site picks up where the card leaves off, with the full story on what each microbe is, how it spreads, and how to protect yourself.
Accurate, and built to stay that way
- Content is medically reviewed by Sault Area Hospital's Infectious Disease team
- Prevention advice is evidence-based and specific to each pathogen, not generic tips
- Written to be understood by everyone, from kids to healthcare professionals
- Characters are modelled on the real shape of each microbe under the microscope
The people who make it
Plague Tags is funded by the Northern Ontario Academic Medical Association (NOAMA) AFP Innovation Fund and delivered through Sault Area Hospital's Infectious Disease team in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It brings clinicians, research, and design together, so the science is sound and the tags are something people want to keep.
More about Dr. Castellani
Dr. Lucas Castellani is an infectious diseases and internal medicine physician based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Beyond leading infection prevention at Sault Area Hospital, his work reaches across the region, from HIV care to public health and medical teaching.
At Sault Area Hospital
Medical Director of Infection Prevention & Control and of Antimicrobial Stewardship, and an Infectious Diseases Physician. He also runs the infectious disease clinic within the Internal Medicine Rapid Access Clinic, along with the wound clinic.
HIV care
Medical Director of the HIV/AIDS Resource Program (HARP) at Group Health Centre, supporting HIV treatment, linkage to care, and follow-up across the region.
Community & public health
Appointed to Algoma Public Health's Board of Health in 2016, and a co-creator of the CommunityPass COVID-19 contact-tracing app built by local health-care professionals.
Training & teaching
Residency in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Toronto, with his medical degree from the University of Queensland. He also teaches through NOSM University.
Meet the microbes
Released with intention
Plague Tags are not handed out the same way every time. For each microbe, the team decides where it will do the most good: which setting, which audience, and how many to make.
Not everyone needs to know about every microbe, so each release is targeted to the people and places where that information matters most. That way, each tag reaches the people it can help the most.
Clinical guidance on Firstline
Sault Area Hospital's infection prevention and antimicrobial guidance lives in the Firstline app. Providers can open the hospital's Firstline to find the clinical pathways behind these microbes and more.
Open Sault Area Hospital on FirstlineWant to reproduce Plague Tags?
If your hospital, health unit, or organization would like to reproduce the Plague Tags materials or start a program of your own, we would be glad to hear from you. Reach out and we can share how it works.
Inquire by email