Emma Pritchard is a Medical Statistician in the Modernising Medical Microbiology team at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. She works in the Oxford BRC’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Modernising Microbiology Theme. In this blog, Emma explains how she used the ongoing Office for National Statistics COVID-19 Infection Survey to understand the spread of coronavirus in … Read more
News for Antimicrobial Resistance and Modernising Microbiology
COVID-19 blog: accelerating testing with robotics
PhD student Kevin Chau, who works in the Oxford BRC’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Modernising Microbiology Theme, has played his part in the pandemic response as part of the Modernising Medical Microbiology team at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. In this blog post written for the Medical Research Foundation, he describes the experience: The swift … Read more
Largest ever global study of tuberculosis identifies genetic causes of drug resistance
Using cutting-edge genomic sequencing techniques, researchers at the University of Oxford have identified almost all the genomic variation that gives people resistance to 13 of the most common tuberculosis (TB) drug treatments. The Comprehensive Resistance Prediction for Tuberculosis International Consortium (CRyPTIC) research project has collected the largest ever global dataset of clinical M. tuberculosis samples … Read more
New study launched to understand vaccine escape
Oxford researchers will be involved in a major new study seeking to understand why some people become infected after vaccination or prior infection while others do not Oxford BRC-supported investigators already involved in the Protective Immunity from T-Cells in Healthcare workers (PITCH) study will be part of a consortium of academic partners involved in the … Read more
Vaccination still best protection, but less effective against Delta variant, study finds
The latest findings of an ongoing national study of COVID-19 immunity in households across the UK has found that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines offer good protection against new infections of the Delta variant of concern, but that effectiveness is reduced compared with the Alpha variant. The COVID-19 infection survey, led by Oxford University and … Read more
Antiviral drug could be given to more chronic hepatitis B patients, study finds
A study by Oxford University researchers has found that the antiviral drug TDF may benefit a greater number of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus, and that those who are untreated may be at greater risk of liver inflammation and fibrosis. The research was carried out under the auspices of the National Institute for Health … Read more
New Senior Research Fellows named
The NIHR Oxford BRC has announced the appointment of its latest group of Senior Research Fellows – the third cohort of emerging research leaders to receive the accolade. Like in 2020, this year’s selection process was a coordinated effort by the Oxford BRC and its partners in the NIHR Oxford Health BRC, which focuses on mental health … Read more
Latest data on immune response to COVID-19 reinforces need for vaccination
A new study led by University of Oxford has found that previous infection, whether it was symptomatic or asymptomatic, does not necessarily protect you long term from COVID-19, particularly against new variants of concern. The PITCH Study (Protective Immunity from T cells to COVID-19 in Health workers) examined how the immune system responds to COVID-19 … Read more
Partnership to speed up identification of COVID-19 variants
Oxford University and the multinational computer technology corporation Oracle have joined forces to create a Global Pathogen Analysis System (GPAS) to help governments and medical communities identify and act on variants of the COVID-19 virus faster. The emergence of more infectious variants is threatening to slow the global recovery and potentially thwart current vaccine immunity. The … Read more
BRC researcher receives national infection prevention award
An NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre researcher who has played a leading role in Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust’s COVID-19 staff testing programme is to receive a national award. Dr David Eyre (pictured) has been named as the recipient of the Healthcare Infection Society’s (HIS) 2021 Early Career Award in recognition of his … Read more
National survey reveals big reductions in COVID-19 infections with single dose of Oxford-AZ and Pfizer vaccines
Data from the national COVID-19 Infection Survey, which is led by senior NIHR Oxford BRC researcher Professor Sarah Walker, has revealed the impact of vaccination on antibody responses and new infections in a large group of adults from the general population. This major community surveillance survey, one of the NIHR’s COVID-19 urgent public health studies, … Read more
Human challenge trial launches to study immune response to COVID-19
Researchers at the University of Oxford have launched a human challenge trial to look at what kind of immune response can stop people from becoming re-infected. The team, led by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre Director Professor Helen McShane (pictured right), also want to find out how the immune system reacts to a second … Read more
New study finds strong immune response following COVID-19 vaccination
A new study has found that 99% of people generate a robust immune response against COVID-19 after just one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and that after two doses levels of protection were even stronger. The PITCH (Protective Immunity from T cells to COVID-19 in Health workers) study, led by Oxford and Sheffield Universities with … Read more
Two doses of vaccine offer same protection from COVID as prior infection, study finds
Two doses of either the Pfizer or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine offer similar protection against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection to that coming from natural immunity after infection, an ongoing study of healthcare workers has found. None of the 1,456 healthcare workers at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust who had received two vaccines had a symptomatic infection … Read more
Lateral flow devices found to be useful in screening OUH staff for coronavirus
Infection prevention and control clinicians and researchers at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) have been outlining the OUH’s experience of deploying self-administered home-based lateral flow testing of its staff. In a letter published in the Journal of Infection, they said that 46,503 home-based SARS-CoV-2 lateral flow tests had been performed by asymptomatic OUH hospital staff. Of … Read more
Lateral flow devices detect most infectious COVID-19 cases, study shows
Researchers from the University of Oxford, working with Public Health England, have used NHS Test and Trace data to find out why some individuals pass COVID-19 on to their contacts more easily than others, and if lateral flow tests are sufficient in detecting those who are most infectious. Using information from over a quarter of … Read more
Prior COVID-19 infection offers protection from re-infection for at least six months
A new study suggests that individuals who have previously had COVID-19 are highly unlikely to contract the illness again, for at least six months following their first infection. The study, done as part of a major collaboration between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, was published today as a … Read more
COVID antibodies wane within months, healthcare workers study shows
Antibodies to COVID-19 fall by half in less than 90 days, and antibody levels peak lower and fall faster in younger adults, an ongoing study of staff at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has revealed. The findings, published on the pre-print server medRxiv, also showed that antibodies to the virus last longer in people … Read more
Prof Sarah Walker receives OBE
Professor Sarah Walker, the Oxford BRC’s Co-theme Lead for Antimicrobial Resistance and Modernising Microbiology, is to receive an OBE. Prof Walker, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine, was recognised for services to academia and the COVID-19 response. She is the chief investigator and academic lead for … Read more
Evaluation of LamPORE rapid Covid-19 tests show high levels of diagnostic sensitivity
Scientists from the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine have today published their evaluation of LamPORE, a novel diagnostic platform for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA. This technology, which combines loop-mediated isothermal amplification with nanopore sequencing, has the potential to analyse thousands of samples per day on a single instrument. The full evaluation paper was published … Read more