NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre
Enabling translational research through partnership
Antibiotics are often given to hospital patients where there is initially a concern about an infection, but where later it was found that an infection was not present and antibiotics were not needed after all. Antibiotics are then stopped, but where possible it would be better not to start them in ... READ MORE
The use of artificial joint replacements can considerably improve the quality of life of patients suffering from arthritis. Unfortunately, about 1-2% of joint replacements get infected after surgery. Treatment of joint replacement infections can be difficult and usually involves both surgery and ... READ MORE
Blood cultures are a test sent from unwell patients with serious infections that are used to detect if bacteria are present in their blood. Blood taken from patients is taken to a laboratory where any bacteria that are present are grown, or ‘cultured’. These blood cultures help find the cause of ... READ MORE
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health issue and poses a particular risk to patients with cancer. AMR is where the bacteria and other germs causing infections develop the ability to defeat the medicines made to get rid of them. Many cancer treatments can weaken the body’s ability ... READ MORE
E. coli is a type of bacteria that commonly causes infections. When it gets into a patient’s blood it can cause very severe infections and there is up to around a 20% chance that patients will die despite medical treatment. A vaccine to prevent severe disease caused by E. coli is currently in ... READ MORE
Babies in the first month of life (neonates) are very vulnerable to bacterial infections, which require antibiotics as treatment. Increasingly bacterial infections are harder to treat, a problem known as antibiotic resistance. Some forms of antibiotic resistance occur because bacteria can share ... READ MORE
Antibiotics are key part of treating infections. However, use and over-use of antibiotics leads to bacteria developing antibiotic resistance, where antibiotics no longer work as expected. When antibiotics are given to patients with infections, doctors and other professionals try to balance giving ... READ MORE
Antibiotics are key part of treating and preventing infections. However, use and over-use of antibiotics leads to bacteria developing antibiotic resistance, where antibiotics no longer work for patients as expected. One solution to this problem is developing and using new antibiotics, but ... READ MORE
When a patient is suspected of having a bacterial infection, antibiotics are often given and at the same time blood, urine and other samples might be collected to try to identify the bacteria causing the infection. Different antibiotics work against different bacteria, and test results, which ... READ MORE
Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to public health worldwide. In hospitals, if antibiotics do not treat severe infections effectively this can lead to more deaths and longer hospital stays. However, prompt adjustments to antibiotic treatments to switch to an antibiotic that works may ... READ MORE
The Global Research on AntiMicrobial resistance (GRAM) Project is the flagship study of the Oxford GBD (Global Burden of Disease) Group, and aims to provide robust, comprehensive and timely evidence of the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in 195 countries and territories. The Oxford GBD ... READ MORE
The Covid-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on healthcare globally. Whilst the virus is directly devastating for many suffering from severe infection, there are also wider implications. These include potentially lower use of healthcare for other serious conditions with potential adverse ... READ MORE
Antibiotics are commonly used to treat infections, but they may also affect how other infections are detected and transmitted. MRSA is a potentially serious healthcare-associated infection. Over the past decade there has been major progress in reducing the number of patients who carry MRSA on their ... READ MORE
In order to reduce the threat of antimicrobial resistance, a first key step is to understand how much resistance there is. This is typically done by looking at bacteria causing serious infections, particularly bloodstream infections. However, growing bacteria from blood usually requires ... READ MORE
Infections due to one particular family of bacteria called Enterobacteriaceae are increasing in Oxfordshire and worldwide, as are infections resistant to the commonly-used beta-lactam antibiotics (such as co-amoxiclav, sometimes also called augmentin). Treating people with particular types of ... READ MORE
Reducing antibiotic use to combat antimicrobial resistance is a priority. We want to know if we can do this safely and without putting patients at undue risk. Antibiotic use was measured over 1 week in an intensive audit of practice in the Acute/General Medicine service at the John Radcliffe. This ... READ MORE
Antibiotics are medicines that are hugely important in treating many infections, and antibiotic resistance is a major clinical problem. Research has shown that increased use of antibiotics, whether appropriate or inappropriate, seems to be associated with higher numbers of antibiotic-resistant ... READ MORE
Urinary tract infections comprise around 1% of the 300 million general practice consultations annually in the UK; most of these are acute uncomplicated UTIs (AUUTIs) in women of childbearing age. AUUTIs affect around 50% of women during their lifetime and, by 24 years of age, one-third of women have ... READ MORE
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