Infection and Immunity nieuws

May 13: Signaling COVID-19 with a bracelet

A bracelet that continuously measures your temperature and breathing and thus may detect any symptoms of COVID-19 at an early stage. To that end, Rick Grobbee, professor of clinical epidemiology at UMC Utrecht and his team, will test an existing wearable among 40,000 people. For this he has received a grant of € 10 million from the European Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI).

May 4: Six million euros for international BCG research against COVID-19 among 10,000 healthcare workers

An investigation in Australia into the possible protection of the BCG vaccine against COVID-19 will be further expanded in the coming weeks thanks to a grant of € 6 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With this grant, the research will be extended to the Netherlands and Spain. In the Netherlands, Radboudumc and University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht will coordinate the research, in which 4,000 healthcare workers can participate in 13 locations.

Apr 29: How does COVID-19 spread within the family?

What if one of your family members is infected with the COVID-19 virus? Do you have to take all kinds of measures to avoid contact with him or her, or does that not really matter? Patricia Bruijning, associate professor of epidemiology at UMC Utrecht, investigates how the coronavirus spreads within the family. She and her team are still looking for families who want to participate.

Apr 7: Good predictive models for COVID-19 are urgently needed

Prediction models for COVID-19 are under development worldwide: which people are especially at risk, which patients with complaints have it, and which characteristics and test results determine the course of the disease? A study of 31 models underlines the need to share more data. "Most predictive models are not yet reliable enough to base medical decisions upon."

Mar 30: How does the immunological memory work?

Much is known about immune cells in blood today. But that does not apply to immune cells in tissues, such as the bone marrow, intestines or skin. UMC Utrecht researcher Dr. José Borghans investigates how immunological memory in the tissues is preserved. In February she was awarded a Vici grant of € 1.5 million for this research.

Mar 28: Rapid and extensive research into medicines for corona

Can drugs that inhibit other viruses also cause patients with COVID-19 to recover? UMC Utrecht is participating in international research to find out. "The starting point is that we quickly find out which of these drugs best reduces the serious symptoms," says researcher and physician-microbiologist dr. Miquel Ekkelenkamp. “This study is important because there is no vaccine and no medicine yet. The disease is serious and we are left empty-handed.”

Mar 18: Study into better protection for healthcare workers against coronavirus infection

Radboudumc and UMC Utrecht will investigate whether health care workers are better protected against the coronavirus after a vaccination against tuberculosis (BCG vaccine). This vaccine does not directly protect against the coronavirus, but provides a boost to the immune system, which may lead to improved protection against the coronavirus and a milder infection.

Feb 13: H2020 grant for RNA profile test in patients with fever

Jan 10: How to improve kidney transplants

Jan 9: New chronic inflammatory disease discovered