Herpes viruses, their diversity and why they can be particularly dangerous for people with neurodermatitis – this is the topic of the new episode of the podcast “Exzellent erklärt – cutting-edge research for everyone”: Professor Dr Thomas Werfel and PD Dr Stephan Traidl explain what lies behind the eight human herpes viruses – from cold sores and shingles to severe infections – and why genetic factors, age and the immune system play a decisive role. It also discusses prevention through vaccination, new drugs for atopic dermatitis and the complex research involving patient cohorts that aims to improve our understanding of risk factors.
The podcast “Exzellent erklärt” (Excellent Explained) reports regularly from one of the 57 research networks (clusters of excellence) funded as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal Government and the Länder. The journey takes us across the country, and the topics are as diverse as the locations: from A for African studies to Z for the future of medicine. Scientists from the DFG-funded clusters of excellence talk to podcaster Larissa Vassilian about how they want to find scientifically sound answers to relevant issues of our time – for the society of tomorrow. The podcast can be listened to and subscribed to on various podcast providers, for example here: https://exzellent-erklaert.podigee.io/
The photo shows the cover image of the podcast episode of the RESIST Cluster of Excellence. It shows a fluorescence microscopy image of a human cell infected with varicella-zoster virus. Copyright: Viejo-Borbolla, Jürgens, Zhu, MHH Institute of Virology.