{"id":45892,"date":"2014-08-01T11:14:34","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T11:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=44eba90c9e746f325c78e2d00173e561"},"modified":"2014-08-01T11:14:34","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T11:14:34","slug":"press-release-whole-genome-sequencing-to-revolutionise-investigation-of-outbreaks-of-infectious-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=45892","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Whole genome sequencing to revolutionise investigation of outbreaks of infectious disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Public Health England (<abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr>) is at the forefront of using new whole genome sequencing (<abbr title=\"Whole genome sequencing\">WGS<\/abbr>) technologies to improve the diagnosis and control of infectious diseases and is leading the implementation whole genome sequencing <abbr title=\"Human immunodeficiency virus\">HIV<\/abbr>, tuberculosis (<abbr title=\"Tuberculosis\">TB<\/abbr>) and hepatitis C in the context of the 100,000 Genomes Project. <\/p>\n<p><abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> is also working with Genomics England as part of the 100,000 genomes project to apply <abbr title=\"Whole genome sequencing\">WGS<\/abbr> to further our understanding of why some people develop severe reactions to infections (sepsis). <\/p>\n<p>To date over 28,000 bacteria and virus genomes have been sequenced including over 3,500 salmonella genomes and it is now being routinely used as part of <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr>\u2019s specialist microbiology and epidemiology services. <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> is already benefitting from the application of <abbr title=\"Whole genome sequencing\">WGS<\/abbr> through improvements in surveillance and outbreak investigation.<\/p>\n<p><abbr title=\"Whole genome sequencing\">WGS<\/abbr> has a wealth of benefits including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>improving our understanding of the evolution of bacteria and viruses<\/li>\n<li>helping us to understand how some strains can cause more serious disease than others (virulence)<\/li>\n<li>further our understanding of patterns of antibiotic resistance<\/li>\n<li>gaining insights as to why some people are more susceptible to infections than others (potentially)<\/li>\n<li>informing improved and targeted infection control measures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><abbr title=\"Whole genome sequencing\">WGS<\/abbr> provides such a level of detail it can be used to add to the evidence to pinpoint the source of an outbreak.  Use of the technology has also revealed outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness that occur for a limited time frame and involve small numbers of people which would have previously occurred under the surveillance radar. Recognition of these smaller outbreaks earlier than previously possible means that we can act sooner to control the outbreak and therefore reduce the number of people infected. <\/p>\n<p>Other progress is also being made through collaborations with universities and other organisations to further understand the benefits of this new technology and how best to use it.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Isabel Oliver, genomics lead at <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr>, said: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\"><abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> is very excited about the potential for whole genome sequencing as it can offer very valuable insights which can inform public health actions. We are still learning a lot about these technologies but hope that we can harness its full potential to provide rapid information that will help healthcare professionals deliver the best care for patients. We are committed to working in partnership with Genomics England and NHS England as part of the 100,000 genomes project.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 id=\"notes-to-editors\">Notes to editors<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> exists to protect and improve the nation\u2019s health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. It does this through advocacy, partnerships, world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, and the delivery of specialist public health services. <abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/public-health-england\">www.gov.uk\/phe<\/a> Follow us on Twitter @PHE_uk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"contact postal-address\" id=\"contact_1107\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Infections press office<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<p class=\"adr\">\n<span class=\"fn\"><abbr title=\"Public Health England\">PHE<\/abbr> press office &#8211; infections<\/span><br \/><span class=\"street-address\">61 Colindale Avenue<\/span><br \/><span class=\"locality\">London<\/span><br \/><span class=\"postal-code\">NW9 5EQ<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"email\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Email<\/span><br \/>\n              <a class=\"email\" href=\"mailto:infections-pressoffice@phe.gov.uk\">infections-pressoffice@phe.gov.uk<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Phone<\/span><br \/>\n              020 8327 7901\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out of hours<\/span><br \/>\n              020 8200 4400\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"attachment inline\" id=\"attachment_660388\"><br \/>\n  <a href=\"\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/340026\/template_AMR_v2.pdf\">Whole genome sequencing and antibiotic-resistant bacteria: media background<\/a><br \/>\n  (<span class=\"type\"><abbr title=\"Portable Document Format\">PDF<\/abbr><\/span>, <span class=\"file-size\">94.2KB<\/span>, <span class=\"page-length\">2 pages<\/span>)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The genomes of over 28,000 bacteria and viruses have been sequenced by Public Health England in a revolution in microbiology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}