Infection Medicine

Dr Sandeep Ramalingam

My interests include determining the antiviral mechanisms used by cells to fight viral infections, to identify ways to augment these responses, and to determine the clinical impact of such an intervention.

Dr Sandeep Ramalingam

Consultant Virologist, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh & Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh

  • Department of Laboratory Medicine
  • Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

Contact details

Personal Profile

Dr. Sandeep Ramalingam is a Consultant Virologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and also an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.

After undergraduate studies in Medicine at Coimbatore Medical College, he did his MD in Microbiology and PhD in Virology at the Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore India. He was a faculty in the Department of Clinical Virology for 5 years and was a Senior Lecturer when he moved to the UK. He worked at Kings College Hospital and Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency, (Colindale) in London towards his FRCPath. He moved to Edinburgh in 2008.

Teaching

  • Virology component – Year 4 Infection Module

Research Theme

Research

A large number of viruses can cause the common cold, hence targeted vaccination / antiviral therapy is difficult and / or impractical. Therefore an intervention that works against different viruses is urgently needed. My interests include determining the antiviral mechanisms used by cells to fight viral infections, to identify ways to augment these responses, and to determine the clinical impact of such an intervention. We have recently identified an antiviral mechanism dependent on the availability of chloride ions. We are interested in elucidating all the steps involved in this process. We have also conducted a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and gargling in adults with a common cold with promising results (www.elvisstudy.com). Based on this, we are in the process of starting a larger RCT of hypertonic saline nose drops in children with an upper respiratory tract infection (www.elviskids.co.uk).

Current Funding Sources

Collaborations

Recent Publications

Ramalingam S, Cai B, Wong J, Twomey M, Chen R, Fu RM, Boote T, McCaughan H, Griffiths SJ, Haas JG. Antiviral innate immune response in non-myeloid cells is augmented by chloride ions via an increase in intracellular hypochlorous acid levels. Sci Rep. 2018 Sep 11;8(1):13630. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-31936-y. PubMed PMID: 30206371.

Ramalingam S, Cai B, Wong J, Twomey M, Chen R, Fu RM, Boote T, McCaughan H, Griffiths SJ and Haas JG. Antiviral innate immune response in non-myeloid cells is augmented by chloride ions via an increase in intracellular hypochlorous acid levels. Sci Rep 2018; in press.

Donnelly MC, Imlach SN, Abravanel F, Ramalingam S, Johannessen I, Petrik J, Fraser AR, Campbell JD, Bramley P, Dalton HR, Hayes PC, Kamar N, Simpson KJ. Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir Anti-Viral Therapy Fails to Clear HEV Viremia and Restore Reactive T Cells in a HEV/HCV Co-Infected Liver Transplant Recipient. Gastroenterology. 2017 Jan;152(1):300-301.

Harvala H, Wong V, Simmonds P, Johannessen I, Ramalingam S. Acute viral hepatitis - should the current screening strategy be modified? J Clin Virol. 2014; 59(3):184-7.

Al-Shukri I, Davidson E, Tan A, Smith DB, Wellington L, Johannessen I, Ramalingam S. Rash and arthralgia caused by hepatitis E. Lancet. 2013; 382(9907):1856.

Ramalingam S, Smith D, Wellington L, Vanek J, Simmonds P, MacGilchrist A, Bathgate A, Simpson K, Johannessen I. Autochthonous hepatitis E in Scotland. J Clin Virol. 2013; 58(4):619-23.

Smith DB, Vanek J, Wellington L, Johannessen I, Ramalingam S, Simmonds P. Hepatitis E virus mixed infection in immunocompetent patient. Emerg Infect Dis. 2013; 19(3):468-70.

Smith DB, Vanek J, Ramalingam S, Johannessen I, Templeton K, Simmonds P. Evolution of the hepatitis E virus hypervariable region. J Gen Virol. 2012; 93(Pt 11):2408-18

Ramalingam S, Leung T, Cairns H, Sibley P, Smith M, Ijaz S, Tedder R, Zuckerman M.  Transmission of hepatitis B virus (genotype E) in a haemodialysis unit. J Clin Virol. 2007; 40(2):105-9

Cowan FM, French RS, Mayaud P, Gopal R, Robinson NJ, de Oliveira SA, Faillace T, Uuskula A, Nygard-Kibur M, Ramalingam S, Sridharan G, El Aouad R, Alami K, Rbai M, Sunil-Chandra NP, Brown DW.  Seroepidemiological study of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in Brazil, Estonia, India, Morocco, and Sri Lanka.  Sex Transm Infect. 2003; 79(4):286-90.

Ramalingam S, Kannangai R, Zachariah A, Mathai D, Abraham C.  CD4 counts of normal and HIV-infected south Indian adults: do we need a new staging system?  Natl Med J India. 2001; 14(6):335-9.

CVS_ELVIS
SR_CVS_HOCL