Cordelia Coltart

University College London | UCL · Department of Infection and Population Health

Objectives An initial report of findings from 1.14 million SARS CoV-2 serology tests in National Health Service (NHS) staff to compare NHS staff seroconversion with community seroconversion rates at a regional level. Design A national cross-sectional survey. Setting A SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing programme offered across all NHS Trusts. Participa...

Introduction: The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa, affecting Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2016, was a substantial public health crisis with health impacts extending past EVD itself. Access to maternal health services (MHS) was disrupted during the epidemic, with reductions in antenatal care, facility-based delive...

Chronic and emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance remain a substantial global health threat. Microbiota are increasingly recognised to play an important role in health. Infections also have a profound effect beyond health, especially on global and local economies. To maximise health improvements, the field of infectious disease...

Ebola virus causes a severe haemorrhagic fever in humans with high case fatality and significant epidemic potential. The 2013–2016 outbreak in West Africa was unprecedented in scale, being larger than all previous outbreaks combined, with 28 646 reported cases and 11 323 reported deaths. It was also unique in its geographical distribution and multi...

The 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa was larger than all previous Ebola outbreaks combined and was unique in the breadth of its geographical dispersion. The size and scope of this epidemic provided the potential to achieve significant advances in understanding the disease and to improve

Prior to 2013, 24 naturally occurring outbreaks of Ebola virus disease affecting humans had been reported. All but one of these outbreaks were confined to four central African countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire), South Sudan (formerly Sudan), Gabon and Uganda. In total

Ebola causes severe illness in humans and has epidemic potential. How to deploy vaccines most effectively is a central policy question since different strategies have implications for ideal vaccine profile. More than one vaccine may be needed. A vaccine optimised for prophylactic vaccination in high-risk areas but when the virus is not actively cir...

West Africa is currently witnessing the most extensive Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak so far recorded 1–3. Until now, there have been 27,013 reported cases and 11,134 deaths. The origin of the virus is thought to have been a zoonotic transmission from a bat to a two-year-old boy in December 2013 (ref. 2). From this index case the virus was spread by h...

Schistosomiasis is one of the major parasitic diseases of the tropics, causing acute and long-term clinical syndromes. Almost all schistosomiasis is now imported from sub-Saharan Africa. This article summarises the aetiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and management of schistosomiaisis for clinicians in non-endemic countries. © 2015 Royal Co...

Schistosomiasis in returning travellers is one of the most common imported tropical infections with potentially serious complications, which are preventable if diagnosed early. A review was undertaken of consecutive cases of schistosomiasis presenting at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London, UK from 1997 to 2012. All 1020 schistosomiasis case...

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of thoracotomy and decortication (T/D) in achieving lung re-expansion in patients with Stage III empyema and assess the impact of culture-positive empyema on the outcome of decortication. This is a retrospective observational study of consecutive patients treated with T/D over a 6-year period. A total of 107...

We live in a globalised world with travel, population movements, and migration impacting virtually all countries. As a result, global infectious disease epidemiology is changing. Greater global mobility leads to the potential of importing, exporting, or spreading communicable diseases across regions, borders, and continents, potentially posing a he...

The authors give an overview of the rationale for using alcohol pricing as a public health tool. They outline the background to government alcohol strategies, review recent moves by the government to acknowledge the problem, and contrast their proposed policy to the evidence base that underpins the advice of health professionals advocating for an u...

WHO develops evidence-based guidelines for setting global standards and providing technical support to its Member States and the international community, as a whole. There is a clear need to ensure that WHO guidance is relevant, rigorous and up-to date. A key activity is to ascertain the guidance needs of the countries. This study provides an inter...

A growing body of evidence suggests that the consumption of foods rich in polyphenolic compounds, particularly cocoa, may have cardioprotective effects. No review, however, has yet examined the effect of flavonoid-rich cocoa (FRC) on all major cardiovascular risk factors or has examined potential dose-response relationships for these effects. A sys...

In this article, the authors review recent global health activities in the United Kingdom by key organisations in several defined areas:- UK government (international aid and global health strategy); UK research funding agencies (overseas research units); non-governmental organisations; UK universities and hospitals and academic/clinical internatio...

A start, but not enough

To report the occurrence of an unusual neurologic disorder requiring admission to the intensive care unit. Analysis of an observational cohort study of 31 patients with encephalitis admitted over a 4-yr period. Neurologic intensive care unit in a tertiary referral center. We identified N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibodies in six patients (two m...

We describe a case of mixed malaria infection in a returning traveller. We suggest that our patient had a chronic infection with Plasmodium vivax, which reduced the severity of an acute infection with P. falciparum-an example of cross-species immunity.