Infection and Immunity nieuws
Reduced mortality for sickest COVID-19 patients
Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with drugs typically used for arthritis may significantly improve survival, a landmark study has found. The findings, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, come from the REMAP-CAP trial, which evaluates the effect of treatments on a combination of survival and length of time patients need support in an intensive care unit (ICU).
Read moreDec 22: International Trials of Blood Thinners Pause Enrollment of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients
Three clinical trial platforms working together to test the effects of full doses of anticoagulants (blood thinners) in COVID-19 patients have paused enrollment for one group of patients. Among critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) support, therapeutic anticoagulation drugs did not improve outcomes. Enrollment continues for moderately ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the trials.
Read moreDec 21: UMC Utrecht starts clinical trial with COVID-19 vaccine
UMC Utrecht will start a study with the COVID-19 candidate vaccine from CureVac on 28 December. A total of approximately 2,000 volunteers in the Netherlands will be recruited to participate in this study. The availability of multiple vaccines against corona is crucial to slow down and, if possible, stop the pandemic. Volunteers who want to participate in this study can register via www.vaccinatiestudie.nl.
Read moreDec 15: Value of immune monitoring after stem cell transplantation in children
Immune monitoring of children after hematopoietic stem cell therapy may provide useful information to improve efficacy of treatment and reduce the occurrence of complications. In addition, immune monitoring may in the future be used for a personalized treatment in children undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Read moreDec 12: Solution for chronic pain one step closer
Important steps have been taken at UMC Utrecht in understanding the cause of chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis and inflammation. This could also lead to new effective treatments in the future. More than 20 percent of the Dutch suffer from chronic pain. About 40 percent of this group has osteoarthritis. This type of chronic pain has been difficult to treat so far. Ramin Raoof obtained his PhD on 11 December for research into this.
Read moreDec 11: Infections with Gram-negative bacteria responsible for significant mortality
Infections with Gram-negative bacteria form a significant burden of mortality in hospitalized patients in country with low antimicrobial resistance such as the Netherlands, contributing to more than 2,000 deaths per year. Of these, approximately one-third occur after non-bacteremic GNI and two-third after bacteremic GNI. These findings were presented by Tim Deelen in his PhD thesis that he defended at Utrecht University on December 11, 2020.
Read moreDec 9: Using antibodies to fight bacteria
How can we use antibodies to fight bacteria? Suzan Rooijakkers, professor of microbiology at UMC Utrecht, has received a grant of € 2 million from the European Research Council (ERC) to answer this question. She has been awarded this grant for her research into antibody therapies that use the immune system to fight bacteria. In this way, she hopes to find an alternative to antibiotics in the long term.
Read moreDec 4: Rapid antigen test for corona also reliable for screening asymptomatic people
The antigen rapid test is a reliable method to identify (early) corona infections in people without complaints and can therefore be used as screening in asymptomatic people. This was concluded in a validation study recently conducted by UMC Utrecht in Dutch professional football.
Read moreDec 1: Rheumatologists compare rheumatoid arthritis drugs in difficult-to-treat patients
Dutch rheumatologists have started a clinical study in patients with difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They compare the efficacy of adding either tocilizumab or prednisone in patients who do not benefit sufficiently from treatment with the conventional RA drug methotrexate.
Read moreNov 21: Mass screening for corona will not allow for reopening of society
Massive and repeated testing of the population for the coronavirus, followed by isolating people that can spread the virus, after the current wave is not a feasible solution for the reopening of society. This conclusion is drawn in a new modeling study by epidemiologists from UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University.
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