In a pre-print – which has yet to be peer-reviewed – scientists from Nigeria and the UK analysed data from 140 healthcare workers at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research and Federal Medical Center, Ebute Metta, and two private hospitals in Lagos. All participants had received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered between Jan […]

A drug used to treat epilepsy patients could help prevent stroke in people whose arteries show signs of atherosclerosis – furring of the arteries – scientists will tell audiences at the Cambridge Festival.

Implantable electronic medical devices are already widely used for a number of applications, but they also offer the prospect of transforming the treatment of intractable conditions, such as the use of neural electrical stimulators for spinal injury patients. There is one major problem, however: our body recognises, attacks and surrounds these implants with a dense, […]

In July 2020, following the first months of the pandemic, the UK government established new rules for travellers to and from England, in order to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases being imported into the country. Between 4 July 2020 and 1 February 2021, it established ‘travel corridors’ to countries deemed to be low risk […]

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus replicates and spreads, errors in its genetic code can lead to changes in the virus. On 26 November 2021, the World Health Organization designated the variant B.1.1.529, first identified in South Africa, a variant of concern, named Omicron. The variant carries a large number of mutations, leading to concern that it will […]

Since childhood Stephen Baker says he had a grim fascination with poo. He caught the bug for microbiology and spent 12 years in Vietnam researching bacteria that cause diarrhoea. Stephen thinks that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is likely to be humanity’s biggest killer in the future. But says that if we keep doing the science, we have […]

While the discovery could have implications for improving the safety of repurposed ‘surge wards’, the researchers say it also opens up the possibility of being able to set standards for cleaner air to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of infections. Over the duration of the pandemic there has been a steady rise in the […]

Hear from some of the scientists behind the UK’s nationwide sequencing effort to track SARS-CoV-2. Sir Patrick Vallance (the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser) also describes how the expertise that came together during the pandemic is now recognised across the world – and why it’s crucially important to continue to sequence to be ready for future […]

Farming large numbers of carnivores, like mink, could allow the formation of undetected ‘disease reservoirs’, in which a pathogen could spread to many animals and mutate to become a risk to human health. Research led by the University of Cambridge has discovered that carnivores have a defective immune system, which makes them likely to be […]

The study provides previously unprecedented detail on how infections might spread in a hospital context, showing that a minority of individuals can cause most of the transmission. The researchers analysed data from the first wave of the pandemic, between March and June 2020.  While a great deal of effort is made to prevent the spread […]