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The eHealth system SORMAS (abbreviation for “Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System”) was developed in the Department of Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig under the direction of Prof Gérard Krause. It is used for the early detection of epidemics, but above all for structured process management to contain them. Due to increasing international demand, the HZI has established the non-profit SORMAS Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to support health authorities and public health professionals worldwide in the implementation of SORMAS and other digital solutions for infection control.

A team of researchers led by Anca Dorhoi at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) and Emmanuel Saliba at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), has elucidated age-dependent variations in cellular immunity in Rousettus aegyptiacus, known as the Egyptian fruit bat, a natural reservoir for filoviruses such as Marburg Virus. Using cutting-edge single-cell technologies, they mapped the bat blood with unprecedented resolution. The scientists unveiled that progression to adult age enriches for T lymphocytes and putative regulatory myeloid cells at expenses of B cells. These findings offer deeper insights into the immune system of an important wildlife reservoir species and are now published in Cell Reports.

Birch pollen is not only a nuisance for allergy sufferers. They can also affect the cells of the innate immune system and make them more susceptible to viral infections. This was now shown by a team of researchers at TWINCORE in Hanover, together with cooperation partners from the University of Augsburg. They published their results in the scientific journal Allergy. The TWINCORE - Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research is a joint institution of the the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Hannover Medical School (MHH).

The development of effective agents against viral pathogens is of increasing importance for global health. In particular, there is an urgent need for innovative therapeutic options for viral diseases for which no effective vaccine or only inadequate treatment options are available. The Volkswagen Foundation is now funding three projects to research antiviral substances under the leadership of scientists at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and Saarland University. The total funding for the three projects amounts to approximately 1.9 million euros.

Although there are many female virologists, microbiologists, and infectious diseases researchers in leadership positions at German universities and research institutes, they are usually not in the public eye. The inaccurate perception of few women being science experts was particularly evident during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, where it was primarily male virologists positioning themselves as advisors to policymakers in the media. HZI virologist Melanie Brinkmann is a founding member of the newly established association Infect-Net.

The endogenous molecule itaconic acid has antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects, as researchers from TWINCORE have recently shown. In cooperation with scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), they have now investigated the closely related substance citraconic acid. The result: Citraconic acid protects cells through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It also inhibits the release of flu viruses from human cells. They published these results in the journal Nature Metabolism.