Author Archives: Science Media Centre
expert reaction to a preprint looking at the amount of virus from those with COVID-19 in different age groups
A preprint, published on the German Research network Zoonotic Infectious Diseases website, looked at the amount of virus (viral load) … read more
expert reaction to new home testing programme for coronavirus to track levels of infection in the community
The Government has announced* a major new home testing programme for COVID-19 with the aim of tracking levels of infection … read more
expert reaction to a report looking at the clinical description and outcome of hospitalised COVID-19 patients
The MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease at Imperial College London have published their seventeenth report (non-peer reviewed) on COVID-19. … read more
remdesivir preliminary trial results
Last night, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US issued a statement claiming that hospitalised patients with advanced … read more
expert reaction to announcement of partnership between University of Oxford and AstraZeneca on the Oxford candidate vaccine
The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca have announced a partnership for the development and large-scale production of Oxford’s candidate vaccine … read more
expert reaction to preprint reporting clinical features of 16,749 hospitalised UK patients with COVID-19
A preprint, uploaded to medRxiv, reports on the clinical features of 16,749 hospitalised UK patients with COVID-19 using the ISARIC … read more
expert reaction to daily death reporting now including all positive COVID-19 deaths including out of hospital deaths
Public Health England (PHE) have announced that the reported daily death data will now include all positive COVID-19 deaths, including … read more
expert reaction to results of NIH remdesivir clinical trial
The National Institute of Health (NIH) have released results of a Gilead remdesivir clinical trial. A previous SMC Roundup on … read more
expert reaction to Gilead press releases on remdesivir in patients with COVID-19
The pharmaceutical company Gilead, have press released the findings of studies into the use of remdesivir in patients with COVID-19. … read more
expert reaction to antibody response in COVID-19 patients
Research, published in Nature Medicine, reports on antibody response in COVID-19 patients. Prof Eleanor Riley, Professor of Immunology and Infectious … read more
expert reaction to trial of remdesivir in adults
A study, as published in The Lancet, looked at the use of the drug remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 … read more
expert reaction to unpublished, non-peer-reviewed study assessing the case for a rolling age-release strategy
A study, issued by the University of Warwick, looked at the case for a rolling age-release strategy from the COVID-19 … read more
expert reaction to possible association between COVID-19 and premature birth (re birth of Boris Johnson’s baby)
There have been questions form journalists regarding any possible association between COVID-19 and premature birth. This is in light of … read more
ISARIC 4C study – characterising the clinical features of patients with severe COVID-19 in the UK
What kind of people end up most severely ill with COVID-19? We have already heard about sex differences, age effects … read more
expert comment about current situation in Germany
Prof Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, UEA, said: “Despite suggestions that cases of COVID-19 have started to increase again in … read more
update on the Rapid Assistance in Modelling the Pandemic (RAMP) initiative
Good scientific advice is essential to good decisions being made by politicians. The UK is a world leader in pandemic … read more
expert reaction to the death of Lord Robert May
Lord Robert May, former Government Chief Scientific Advisor and President of the Royal Society, died on the 28th of April. … read more
expert reaction to a preprint looking at the potential impact of the COVID-19 emergency on mortality rates in people with cancer
A preprint, posted on ResearchGate, reports on the potential impact of the COVID-19 emergency on mortality rates in people with … read more
expert comment on apps to track COVID-19
Comment on the use of apps to track COVID-19. Prof Eivor Oborn, a Specialist in Health Technology at Warwick … read more
expert reaction to latest figures on COVID-19 deaths in England
NHS England have released the latest figure for reported deaths in hospitals in England – an additional 552 deaths since … read more