Infectious diseases

Below is an overview of various sections of The Swedish COVID-19 & Pandemic Preparedness Portal where information about research data and resources relevant to Infectious diseases can be found. For a short background on this topic below, see the description below.

Data highlights (36)

Infectious diseases

Cryo-electron tomography allows new knowledge about poliovirus replication and assembly sites in situ

2022-12-19

Dahmane et al (2022) used Cryo-electron tomography to provide an integrated structural framework for multiple stages of the poliovirus life cycle. Data and code are shared openly.
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COVID-19 Infectious diseases

A wider variety of data sources contribute to better spatio-temporal predictions of COVID-19 test positivity

2022-11-22

Van Zoest et al (2022) developed and evaluated the performance of four different statistical single models and one ensemble model to predict trends in COVID-19 test positivity. Data are shared openly in GitHub.
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COVID-19 Infectious diseases

Data-driven research shows that Neanderthal gene connected to severity of COVID-19 (Update)

2022-10-03

Study by Hugo Zeberg and Svante Pääbo fully based on openly available data published open access in Nature.

Now a Nobel Prize winner!!
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See all data highlights on Infectious diseases (36)

Dashboards (6)

SciLifeLab Autoimmunity and Serology profiling facility SARS-CoV-2 antibody test statistics

The amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater across Sweden

The administration and study of COVID-19 vaccines in Sweden

Post COVID-19 condition in Sweden: statistics, research projects, and available data

See all dashboards on Infectious diseases (6)

Sample collections (35)

Name	Type	Size	Materials
Dalarna biobank (forskningsprov och nyinsamlade prov): SARS-CoV-2 PCR positiva Dalarna	Healthcare sample collection	1000 - 10.000	Nasal swab Throat swab
Gävleborg biobank: Klinisk mikrobiologi	Healthcare sample collection	1000 - 10.000	Nasal swab Serum Throat swab Other
Halland biobank: Patologen Halland	Healthcare sample collection	100 - 1000	Tissue (stained sections/slides) Tissue (paraffin preserved)

See all sample collections on Infectious diseases (35)

Ongoing research projects (81)

Project title	Funder	Topics
Mental health of young LGBTQ+ people: Trends over time and during the COVID-19 pandemic, causes of mental ill-health, and ways to improve mental health of young LGBTQ+ people Host institute: Karolinska Institute Principal investigator: Kyriaki Kosidou Project: Mental health of young LGBTQ+ people: Trends over time and during the COVID-19 pandemic, causes of mental ill-health, and ways to improve mental health of young LGBTQ+ people Funder: Forte Principal investigator: Kyriaki Kosidou Host institute: Karolinska Institute Duration: 2023-01-01 – 2025-12-31 More information about the project	Forte	COVID-19Infectious diseases
The fatigue cohort - A longitudinal study on psychobiological mechanisms in post-COVID, chronic fatigue and exhaustion syndromes. Host institute: Stockholms universitet Principal investigator: Anna Andreasson Project: The fatigue cohort - A longitudinal study on psychobiological mechanisms in post-COVID, chronic fatigue and exhaustion syndromes. Funder: Forte Principal investigator: Anna Andreasson Host institute: Stockholms universitet Duration: 2023-01-01 – 2025-12-31 More information about the project	Forte	COVID-19Infectious diseases
The unequal pandemic: investigating the relationship between health equity and political responses to covid-19 Host institute: Stockholms universitet Principal investigator: Karl Gauffin Project: The unequal pandemic: investigating the relationship between health equity and political responses to covid-19 Funder: Forte Principal investigator: Karl Gauffin Host institute: Stockholms universitet Duration: 2023-01-01 – 2025-12-31 More information about the project	Forte	COVID-19Infectious diseases

See all ongoing research projects on Infectious diseases (81)

Open funding opportunities (6)

Call title	Deadline	Funder	Topics
Grant for research time in a clinical environment The purpose of the grant is to give clinically active persons the opportunity to carry out research on a part-time basis in parallel with developing their clinical competence. The aim is to … Grant for research time in a clinical environment Funder: Swedish Research Council Submission opens: February 22, 2023 Submission deadline: March 28, 2023 Funding amount: A standard amount based on the activity level (1 510 000 SEK per year, 1 680 000 SEK per year, or 1 850 000 SEK per year). Funding period: 2-6 years starting Jan 2024. Eligible applicant: Individual researcher who completed a doctoral degree no more than 10 years ago. Decision date: No later than the beginning of October 2023. Call description: The purpose of the grant is to give clinically active persons the opportunity to carry out research on a part-time basis in parallel with developing their clinical competence. The aim is to reinforce and renew medical and clinical research. See call website for more information	March 28, 2023	Swedish Research Council	General
Project grant for research into viruses and pandemics – from fundamental mechanisms to medical interventions The purpose of the project grant is to give researchers the freedom to formulate their own research idea, method and implementation, and to solve a specific research task within a limited … Project grant for research into viruses and pandemics – from fundamental mechanisms to medical interventions Funder: Swedish Research Council Submission opens: February 22, 2023 Submission deadline: March 28, 2023 Funding amount: Minimum 400 000 SEK per year, maximum 2 500 000 SEK per year. Funding period: 1-3 years starting Jan 2024. Eligible applicant: Individual researcher and up to 6 other researchers may be invited to join the application Decision date: No later than the beginning of November 2023. Call description: The purpose of the project grant is to give researchers the freedom to formulate their own research idea, method and implementation, and to solve a specific research task within a limited period. The focus of this call is on research into basic virology and fundamental disease mechanisms caused by viruses. It also covers research into areas such as zoonoses, the development of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. The initiative is part of the national research programme in viruses and pandemics. See call website for more information	March 28, 2023	Swedish Research Council	Infectious diseasesGeneral
Project grant for international research collaboration within antimicrobial resistance (Swedish project leader’s application in Prisma). The purpose of the grant is to support international collaboration in the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR). This is the 16th call within JPIAMR and has the … Project grant for international research collaboration within antimicrobial resistance (Swedish project leader’s application in Prisma). Funder: JPIAMR Submission opens: January 16, 2023 Submission deadline: March 14, 2023 Funding amount: Minimum 1 200 000 SEK (approximately 110 000 EUR) in total per Swedish partner in a project. Maximum 3 500 000 SEK in total (approximately 320 000 EUR) per project for Swedish participation with maximum 2 Swedish partners. Maximum 5 000 000 SEK in total (approximately 457 000 EUR) for Swedish participation in a consortium with a Swedish coordinator. Funding period: 3 years starting Jan 2024. Eligible applicant: Individual researcher who participates as 1 of maximum 2 Swedish project leaders in a consortium with partners from at least 3 participating countries. Only researchers at an administrating organisation approved by the Swedish Research Council may apply. Decision date: No later than the end of November 2023. Call description: The purpose of the grant is to support international collaboration in the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR). This is the 16th call within JPIAMR and has the title “Development of innovative strategies, tools, technologies, and methods for diagnostics and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance”. Sweden, via the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, is one of the 19 countries taking part in the JPIAMR call. See call website for more information	March 14, 2023	JPIAMR	Infectious diseasesAntibiotic resistance

See all open funding opportunities on Infectious diseases (6)

Background

Infectious diseases are one of the most prominent threats to public health globally. Multiple types of organisms cause infectious disease, including bacteria (for example, urinary tract infections, tuberculosis), viruses (for example, the common cold, influenza, and coronaviruses), fungi (for example, ringworm), and parasitic organisms (for example, malaria).

Infectious diseases can spread directly or indirectly in multiple different ways. For example, they may spread through droplets in the air, by exchanging bodily fluids, and by consuming contaminated food. Infectious diseases can spread between humans (including from mother to unborn child) as well as between animals and humans.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted exactly how detrimental coronaviruses can be to public health over the last 2+ years. However, many other infectious diseases have a significant, negative effect worldwide. Some examples of infectious agents affecting millions of people globally are Dengue fever, Ebola, HIV, Measles, Legionella, tuberculosis, West Nile fever, and Zika virus. Research into these infectious agents and efforts to monitor their spread took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, continued throughout, and will progress into the future. For example, Influenza is a seasonal airway infection that affects thousands of people in Sweden annually. Influenza can cause severe disease and possibly even lead to death in individuals where the immune response is compromised in some way (for example, in the elderly). The four subtypes of influenza (A, B, C, and D) are well known, but novel strains regularly emerge, and can result in outbreaks or even pandemics (for example, the Spanish flu). Given the potential negative effects of influenza on public health, continuous efforts are made to monitor its spread and to develop vaccines against novel strains. See the website of the Swedish Public Health Agency for more information related to influenza and how it is managed in Sweden (resources in Swedish).

It is clear then, that further work into known, emerging, and novel infectious diseases is warranted. In paticular, research is needed to elucidate their pathogenicity, the development of resistance to existing treatments (including antibiotic resistance), and to develop effective policies and treatments to minimise their impact. Further, surveillance is required to monitor their spread, as this will show when/where outbreaks occur and enable us to contain them.

For more information on how infectious diseases are monitored in Europe, see the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) pages. For statistics regarding infectious diseases that are reported to the authorities in Sweden, see the Swedish Public Health Agency pages.