news 2020

A Basel-led international research team has discovered a connection between the intestinal flora and sites of inflammation in the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis. A specific class of immune cell plays a central role in this newly identified gut-brain axis. The discovery could pave the way for new treatments for MS that target the intestinal flora.

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 pre-print.

Preventing serious complications from COVID-19 in potentially vulnerable populations in high risk environments, such as prisons, and preventing spread to surrounding communities needs a coordinated evidence-based approach to managing outbreaks of COVID-19 in prison settings.

Researchers studying a group of UK healthcare workers discovered that non-white individuals recovering from COVID-19 displayed higher antibody levels than white individuals, with significantly greater levels observed in Asian individuals. Led by experts at the University of Birmingham, the researchers studied a cohort of 956 UK healthcare workers who self-isolated between March and June 2020 because of COVID-19.

Researchers and colleagues have developed a wound-healing biomaterial for cuts, burns and other injuries that could significantly reduce scar formation and result in healthier, stronger skin. The team, including scientists from Duke University and other institutions, reports that their new hydrogel triggered an immune response in mice that accelerated healing, induced tissue regeneration and resulted in skin that was more resilient to reinjury.

Existing financial inequalities within society are widening as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study. Almost half (47%) of those who were finding things "very difficult" financially before lockdown are now reporting things are "much worse", with a further 23% saying things are "worse".

More than half of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals who misuse alcohol or tobacco also have a co-occurring psychiatric disorder, compared to one-third of heterosexuals, a new University of Michigan study finds. "The degree of disparities in alcohol, tobacco and other psychiatric disorders by sexual identity was very surprising,” said Rebecca Evans-Polce, assistant research scientist at the U-M School of Nursing and first author of the study.

Identifying and assessing frailty in people with diabetes should be a priority, in order to better treat and manage patients and reduce mortality. A new study, led by researchers at the University of Glasgow and published today in the Lancet Healthy Longevity, undertook a systematic review of more than 100 studies, and concluded that diabetes is a risk factor for the development and progression of frailty.

Testing the immune response of care home staff and residents to COVID-19 is to be expanded to help combat the spread of the virus among vulnerable people, as part of a UCL-led study. The Vivaldi 2 study will more than triple in size to provide a detailed picture of coronavirus infection in care homes in England.

New research into the HIV-1 virus has shed light on an important factor in the evolution of viruses, which is likely also to affect SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19). This new insight could have important implications for vaccine development. Differences in the cellular immune system in different human populations are now known to influence a virus's evolution.

Pharmacy professor Tim Bugni has led a UW-Madison effort to identify novel antimicrobials from understudied ecosystems. School of Pharmacy By combing the ocean for antimicrobials, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a new antifungal compound that efficiently targets multi-drug-resistant strains of deadly fungi without toxic side effects in mice.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Sussex are investigating the possibility of 3D printing patient-specific silverbased implants to reduce infection and antimicrobial resistance. Despite substantial advances in invasive surgery and aseptic techniques, implant-related infection remains an all too common complication.

The Zika virus has spread around the world over the last decade, causing millions of infections, some of which have been associated with congenital abnormalities and neurological disorders. Scientists from the CNRS, the Institut Pasteur, and the IRD 1 turned their attention to the main vector of the virus, the mosquito Aedes aegypti .

Testing the immune response of care home staff and residents to COVID-19 is to be expanded to help combat the spread of the virus among vulnerable people, as part of a UCL-led study. The Vivaldi 2 study will more than triple in size to provide a detailed picture of coronavirus infection in care homes in England.

A drug once used to treat high blood pressure can help alcoholics with withdrawal symptoms reduce or eliminate their drinking, Yale University researchers report Nov. 19 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. In a double-blind study, researchers gave the drug prazosin or a placebo to 100 people entering outpatient treatment after being diagnosed with alcohol use disorder.

An experimental Alzheimer's disease treatment is proving effective at treating some of the most persistent, life-threatening antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Researchers from The University of Queensland, The University of Melbourne and Griffith University have discovered that the drug called PBT2 is effective at disrupting and killing a class of bacteria - known as Gram-negative bacteria - that cause infections such as pneumonia, bloodstream infections and meningitis.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, together with colleagues from several other European institutions, have investigated whether particulate matter from certain sources can be especially harmful to human health. They found evidence that the amount of particulate matter alone is not the greatest health risk.

Homeless adults are 1.8 times more likely to have pre-existing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) compared to other adults, putting them at higher risk of severe coronavirus and early death, according to UCL researchers who have led the first large-scale study of its kind. The study, published in the European Heart Journal , used primary care data collected between 1998 and 2019 to compare 8,482 homeless individuals with 32,134 housed people who were matched by age and gender and lived in the same general practice area in UK.

A team led by UCL researchers has demonstrated a new form of wearable, baby-friendly brain mapping technology that has important implications for understanding developmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy. The technology uses harmless levels of red and near-infrared light delivered via a wearable cap to generate detailed 3D images of babies' brain activity.

Oxford University and PHE confirm lateral flow tests show high specificity and are effective at identifying most individuals who are infectious Extensive clinical evaluation from Public Health England and the show Lateral Flow Tests are accurate and sensitive enough to be used in the community, including for asymptomatic people.