Infection and Immunity nieuws
Mar 2: New leads identified for developing uveitis in juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Genetic factors play a role in the risk for patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) to develop uveitis (a severe inflammation of the eye). This offers possibilities to select exactly those patients for frequent checks by the ophthalmologist in whom the risk is highest. This is one of the conclusions in the thesis of Anne-Mieke Haasnoot, which was awarded a PhD in Utrecht on Thursday, March 1.
Read moreMar 1: Utrecht starts pilot with HIV prevention pill PrEP
A pilot with the HIV prevention pill PrEP is starting in Utrecht. People who want to protect themselves against HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and therefore want to use PrEP can be tested and medically assisted by UMC Utrecht. The municipality of Utrecht finances the project.
Read moreFeb 23: Phage therapy for when antibiotics stop working?
On 22 February, UMC Utrecht (in collaboration with TU Delft and the Netherlands Center for One Health) organized an international symposium for the first time in the Netherlands on the possibilities of phage therapy in the treatment of patients with infections due to resistant bacteria. Experts from the Netherlands and abroad presented their experiences in research and therapy in relation to bacteriophages in Utrecht.
Read moreFeb 21: TOP grant from ZonMw for follow-up research into the relationship between livestock farming
Residents of cattle farms have an increased risk of pneumonia. In rural areas, the presence of livestock farming accounts for up to 20 percent of all cases of pneumonia, but pathogens are unknown. Researchers from and UMC Utrecht, Utrecht University (Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences) and Erasmus University Rotterdam will jointly investigate possible causes. ZonMw granted the project proposal a TOP grant of 675,000 euros.
Read moreFeb 9: Treatment of serious atopic dermatitis mapped
Yesterday, Floor Garritsen received her PhD on the outcomes of her large-scale research, in which the use in the daily practice of oral immunosuppressant drugs in patients with severe and/or difficult to treat atopic dermatitis was mapped.
Read moreFeb 8: Towards a new immune therapy against neuroblastoma
Today Lotte Spel defends her thesis in which she states that neuroblastoma childhood cancer often does not properly dispose of the tumor cells, resulting in that these children have a relatively large risk of dying. Because a certain protein, which is essential for alarming the immune system, is barely on the outside of the cancer cells, the cancer cells in the nervous system are not well recognized.
Read moreJan 19: Special enzymes modulate joint infection
The blood and organs contain special enzymes (granzymes) that may determine the extent of damage in some chronic inflammatory diseases such as SLE and rheumatoid arthritis. This conclusion is drawn by Ellen Kok in the study on which she obtained her doctorate in Utrecht on 18 January 2018.
Read moreJan 12: More scientific research needed to SLE in children
Noortje Groot obtained her PhD yesterday on her research into the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in children. The current recommendations for diagnostics and treatment, drawn up by European experts in the field of SLE in children, is primarily supported by studies from adults with SLE. Noortje Groot hopes that this is a good starting point for new scientific studies in SLE in children.
Read moreJan 2: RS virus provides crowded intensive care units
Since November, dozens of children have been admitted to the UMC Utrecht with pneumonia due to the RS virus. This virus, respiratory syncytial virus, causes overcrowded intensive care units in the Netherlands every year. In our country the disease can be treated well, but in developing countries each day around 700 children die due to the infection. After malaria, the virus is the leading cause of death for infants and the second cause of death among young children.
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