Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Animal models form an important component to the assessment of vaccine and therapeutics, as currently no suitable alternatives exist. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 led to models used for SARS-CoV to be assessed as a priority, including ferrets and nonhuman primates. These models demonstrate viral infection in the respiratory system, but with minor clinical effects. Recent results from China have demonstrated that hamsters develop a wider range of clinical disease signs, as well as virus shedding and pathological changes in respiratory tissues. With the increased disease severity and smaller size, they offer an opportunity for the testing of interventions using a rodent model which is ethically more acceptable than the use of larger non-rodent models. In addition, there is mounting evidence that they shed virus to their cagemates, which offers a challenge route that closely resembles natural infection. Therefore, this proposal will establish the hamster model within the UK for the use of testing interventions and evaluating differences between virus strains.

Antimicrobial resistance is a serious concern, resulting in infections that are difficult to treat and in the worst scenario could become untreatable. This proposal will investigate whether antimicrobial resistance exists in Chlamydia trachomatis, which is the bacterium that causes the most common sexually transmitted infection in England & Wales. Chlamydial infection is also a considerable concern because it is found predominantly among young people between 16-24 years old and does not cause any symptoms in more than 70% of women and up to 50% in men. The infected individuals will, therefore, not know that they need to seek healthcare and go untreated and continue to transmit the infection to their sexual partners. Hence it has become widespread in the population, with approximately 10% of sexually active young people infected, in contrast to other sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhoea and syphilis which are found predominantly in high risk core groups. Chlamydia has serious consequences for women, causing complicated infection that can lead to infertility and ectopic pregnancy in later life. The government have recognised this as a priority and have funded a National Chlamydia Screening Programme which offers testing for C. trachomatis to young people attending healthcare settings, such as university clinics, contraceptive services and general practice. The infected individuals and their partners are treated with a single dose of the antimicrobial agent, azithromycin, and when the programme has completed its roll-out nationally in March 2007, large numbers will be receiving treatment. In addition approximately 100,000 patients with chlamydial infection are treated in specialised sexual health clinics in England & Wales with azithromycin or a five day course of doxycycline (tetracycline). There is a worry that extensive screening and testing for chlamydial infection treated with a single agent will select for resistant bacteria. Previously resistance has not been a problem for this organism but there are reports of patients with repeated and persistent infection that does not respond to antimicrobial therapy. This proposal is a scoping exercise to investigate whether resistance in C. trachomatis is a real problem. We will target patients who have persistent infection and will use microbiological and molecular methods to identify mechanisms of resistance. It is imperative that we have early warning of any possibility, that this very common infection, that is known to recur, will fail treatment. The outcomes of this proposal are important for maintaining sexual health in young people.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Cervical screening (the ‘smear test’) helps prevent cervical cancer by finding early signs of abnormalities that can be dealt with before they progress to cancer. Another way to prevent disease is to block infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) types that can lead, usually after many years, to the development of cervical cancer. Vaccines are available that protect women from two of the most common types of HPV which should lead to a reduction of about 70% of cervical cancers. However, as there are other HPV types that also cause cervical cancer it will be necessary to maintain the cervical cancer screening programme, a significant recurrent investment by the NHS, to protect the UK population from this devastating disease. In this study, we will examine the antibodies produced by animals and humans in response to HPV immunisation and work out how effective the vaccines are against other types of HPV. This information will be used to map the relationships between HPV types and help predict what will happen to each HPV type when the population is vaccinated. We will also use this model to describe potential gaps in protection that can be filled by the next generation of vaccines. This information may also help to target limited NHS resources to those individuals who may not be sufficiently protected by vaccination.