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The Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV), first described in 1944, is also spreading rapidly in Europe due to global warming and is included in the WHO list of infectious agents with epidemic or pandemic potential as a top priority. There are currently no therapeutic or preventative measures available against the disease, which is mainly transmitted by ticks and is fatal in 40 per cent of cases.

The decay of ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a crucial mechanism for controlling gene expression in response to environmental stresses. Researchers from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) have developed a statistical approach that allows a more accurate prediction of RNA half-lives in bacteria.

The intricacies of how intestinal bacteria adapt to their environment have yet to be fully explored. Researchers from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg and the University of California, Berkeley, USA, have now successfully closed a gap in this knowledge: They have identified a small ribonucleic acid (sRNA) that affects the susceptibility of the gut pathogen Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron to specific antibiotics.

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz today welcomed the members of the new Expert Council on Health and Resilience to the inaugural meeting at the Federal Chancellery. Among the members is Dr. Berit Lange, Acting Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Head of Clinical Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig.

On March 14, 2024, representatives of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Helmholtz Association met with around 30 members of the Bundestag in Berlin. Prof. Josef Penninger, Scientific Director of the HZI, and Dr. Berit Lange, Acting Head of the HZI Department of Epidemiology, presented the current state of research on pandemic resilience at a parliamentary breakfast entitled "Mastering pandemics: Focus on resilience, innovation and cutting-edge international research". The patron of the event was Dr. Christos Pantazis, Member of the German Bundestag.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen responsible for life-threatening infections that are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Researchers from TWINCORE, the Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research in Hannover, and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig have now been able to show that an enzyme controls virulence through modification of tRNAs.