Topic description and stories

Combating infectious diseases and the threat of antimicrobial resistance remains one of the greatest global challenges.

UK Emergency Medical Team paediatric nurse checks a girl for symptoms of Diphtheria in the Kutapalong refugee camp, Bangladesh

Diphtheria risks becoming ‘major global threat’ again as it evolves resistance to antimicrobials

08 Mar 2021

Diphtheria – a relatively easily-preventable infection – is evolving to become resistant to a number of classes of antibiotics and in future could...

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Person wearing wedding ring

Genomics study identifies routes of transmission of coronavirus in care homes

03 Mar 2021

Genomic surveillance – using information about genetic differences between virus samples – can help identify how SARS-CoV-2 spreads in care home...

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Coronavirus

Single dose of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine reduces asymptomatic infections and potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission

26 Feb 2021

New data from Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge suggests that a single dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine can reduce by 75% the number of...

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Surgeons at work in an operating theatre

Scientists launch a pre-emptive strike on deadly post-transplant infection

23 Feb 2021

A potential new treatment to protect immunosuppressed patients from human cytomegalovirus ( HCMV ) has been discovered by scientists at the...

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Professor Sharon Peacock

Q&A with Sharon Peacock, coronavirus variant hunter

22 Feb 2021

The UK is a world leader in sequencing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Of all the coronavirus genomes that have been sequenced in the...

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3D print of Spike protein

Study highlights risk of new SARS-CoV-2 mutations emerging during chronic infection

05 Feb 2021

SARS-CoV-2 mutations similar to those in the B1.1.7 UK variant could arise in cases of chronic infection, where treatment over an extended period can...

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Forest landscape in Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China

Climate change may have driven the emergence of SARS-CoV-2

05 Feb 2021

Global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, by driving growth of forest...

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When Symptoms Don't Stop

22 Jan 2021

Treating those most severely affected by COVID-19 has necessarily taken priority during the pandemic. But could long COVID be the next wave of the...

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People sitting inside a restaurant wearing face masks

Free online tool calculates risk of COVID-19 transmission in poorly-ventilated spaces

20 Jan 2021

The vital role of ventilation in the spread of COVID-19 has been quantified by researchers, who have found that in poorly-ventilated spaces, the...

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Horseshoe bats

Study identifies genetic changes likely to have enabled SARS-CoV-2 to jump from bats to humans

08 Jan 2021

A new study, involving the University of Cambridge and led by the Pirbright Institute, has identified key genetic changes in SARS-CoV-2 - the virus...

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Ben Underwood with the COVID-19 vaccine research team

Tackling COVID-19: Dr Ben Underwood

04 Jan 2021

Ben Underwood’s expertise in delivering clinical trials became highly prized last year, as he worked on a vaccine trial the whole world was watching.

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Medical personnel putting on PPE

Aroma diffuser and plastic bag offer inexpensive method to test fit of face masks at home

16 Dec 2020

Researchers have developed a way to use a simple home aroma diffuser to test whether N95 and other types of sealing masks, such as KN95 and FFP2...

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