Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Sarah Caddy was conducting research on a number of different viruses. “I was looking at how antibodies can neutralise rotavirus and influenza, to help develop better vaccine candidates,” she says, “so it wasn’t a huge leap to extend my research to include coronavirus.”
“Cambridge’s infectious diseases community is making a huge contribution to tackling the pandemic,” says Professor James Wood. He leads several large-scale programmes at the University that rely on his research expertise: infectious diseases that jump from animals to humans. This is, he says, a research area that was ‘colossally neglected’ before COVID-19 emerged.
A new trial to prevent organ failure and death in COVID-19 patients has been launched led by clinicians and scientists in Cambridge and London.
An alternating cycle of 50 days of strict lockdown followed by 30 days of easing could be an effective strategy for reducing the number of COVID-19-related deaths and admissions to intensive care units, say an international team of researchers.
“The psychology of pandemics was not on my research agenda, but I can tell you one thing: it is now,” says Dr Sander van der Linden. As an expert in psychological and behavioural science, his research has - until recently - been focused on societal risks like climate change and misinformation. Suddenly he has a lot to contribute to the pandemic response.
Hospital staff may be carrying SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, without realising they are infected, according to a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge.
Public health bodies should consider incentivising social media influencers to encourage adolescents to follow social distancing guidelines, say researchers. Many adolescents are choosing to ignore the guidelines set out by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, and peer-to-peer campaigns are likely to be more successful in changing attitudes.
“Complex social, political, economic and ecological forces not only drive infectious disease emergence, but increase our susceptibility to epidemics when they occur,” says Freya Jephcott. Her interdisciplinary approach considers the science of disease outbreaks alongside the beliefs and practices of public health professionals - and how these influence the efficiency of outbreak responses.
Parents should not feel pressured to make their young children undertake structured learning or achieve specific tasks, particularly during lockdown. A new study of children under the age of two has found that parents who take a more flexible approach to their child’s learning can - for children who were easy babies - minimise behavioural problems during toddlerhood.
Ian Goodfellow is no stranger to infectious disease outbreaks. In 2014 he left behind the safety of his Cambridge lab to join a taskforce fighting the hazardous Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. With COVID-19 now sweeping the globe, Goodfellow is once again applying his scientific expertise to finding solutions in real time.
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