Cambridge researchers have shown how rapid genome sequencing of virus samples and enhanced testing of hospital staff can help to identify clusters of healthcare-associated COVID-19 infections.
“This virus is probably going to be circulating for years - it will take a long time to sort out.” In a building that has been largely empty for the past three months, Ravi Gupta has been working non-stop alongside other virus experts. Their trial of a rapid diagnostic test using the ‘SAMBA II’ machine made headlines in April: results are returned in 90 minutes, helping healthcare workers ensure that those infected can be quickly directed to specialised wards. But there remains much work to do.
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.”
Researchers say faster tests helped expedite access to life-saving treatments such as organ transplants – and might make all the difference later this year.
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.
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.
Governments and health agencies should reconsider the current guidelines with regards to widespread mask use in the COVID-19 pandemic and recommend that masks be worn by everyone, argue a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge
A new test for infection with SARS-CoV2 that which inactivates the virus at the point of sampling, has been developed by a team of researchers at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease (CITIID). It is now being used to test and screen frontline NHS staff at a Cambridge hospital.
One of Cambridge’s newest institutes, established to study the relationship between infectious disease and our immune systems, is leading the University of Cambridge’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 150 scientists and clinicians, the UK’s largest academic Containment Level 3 Facility, and a range of collaborators from across the UK and beyond.
A new rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19, developed by a University of Cambridge spinout company and capable of diagnosing the infection in under 90 minutes, is being deployed at Cambridge hospitals, ahead of being launched in hospitals nationwide.
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