TB, caused by infection with the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a major global public health problem. According to the World Health Organization, in 2013 nine million people fell ill with TB and 1.5 million died from the disease. Over 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. About one-third of the world’s population […]

Many human viruses are enveloped in a lipid membrane. To deliver their genome into a host cell, enveloped viruses must fuse their lipid membrane with a cellular membrane. In a recent study Yorgo Modis and colleagues, from the Department of Medicine University Research Unit in the MRC-LMB, tracked virus particles from the flavivirus genus as […]

Professor Sharon Peacock and Professor Graeme Barker are among those who have been given honours in this year’s New Year Honours list. Clinical microbiologist Professor Sharon Peacock was awarded a CBE for her services to Medical Microbiology. Peacock is known for her work with the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme in Thailand where for seven […]

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have used genome sequencing to monitor how the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) occurs in under-resourced hospitals. By pinpointing how and when MRSA was transmitted over a three-month period at a hospital in northeast Thailand, the researchers are hoping their results will support evidence-based policies around infection control. […]

“Although many studies have focused on studying genetic risk factors for disease in European populations, this is an understudied area in Africa,” says Dr Deepti Gurdasani, lead author on the study and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK “Infectious and non-infectious diseases are highly prevalent in Africa and the risk factors […]

The zero-tolerance approach to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in UK hospitals has failed to take account of cases that may be unpreventable, a new study from the University of Cambridge suggests. The study, carried out by a research team working at Addenbrooke’s hospital, Cambridge, investigated a possible outbreak of infections on one of the […]

The incidence of cardiovascular disease varies worldwide, but is notably reduced in southern Europe, where a ‘Mediterranean diet’ consisting of a larger consumption of fruit, vegetables and olive oil predominates. Recent dietary studies suggest that this diet reduces the incidence of events related to the disease, including heart attack and stroke, in patients at high […]