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Bjørn Blomberg's picture

Bjørn Blomberg

Associate Professor
  • E-mailBjorn.Blomberg@uib.no
  • Phone+47 55 97 29 60
  • Visitor Address
    Haukeland universitetssykehus, Laboratoriebygget
    5009 Bergen
  • Postal Address
    Postboks 7804
    5020 Bergen

I work in the infectious diseases research group at UoB and Haukeland University Hospital. Recently focus has been on COVID-19, and our article in Nature Medicine, Long COVID in a prospective cohort of home-isolated patients (Blomberg et al, Nat Med 2021, 27:1607-1613) has been cited 120 times, downloaded 145000 times, and recently got the prices for "article of the year" 2021 from both the Norwegian Infectious Diseases Association and the Faculty of Medicine, UoB. 

My PhD-research in Tanzania on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in severe pediatric infections documented for the first time the excessive mortality in children with sepsis caused by of multidrug-resistant ESBL (extended-spectrum beta-lactamase) producing bacteria. Later we have done follow-up studies in Tanzania, including Zanzibar, and in India. I worked for WHO in the group researching and promoting 4-drug fixed-dose combination drugs world-wide to counteract emerging multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). I have planned and supervised a randomized clinical trial (COTRIMRESIST, clinicaltrials.gov ID NCT03087890) on antibiotic chemotherapy and AMR in HIV-patients in Tanzania.  I am co-investigator of an ongoing RCT on probiotic use in newborns in rural Tanzania to prevent AMR and increase survival (PRORIDE, clinicaltrials.gov ID NCT04172012). 

I am an enthusiastic user of R for statistical analysis.

I teach medical students at the University of Bergen since 2008. In 2018 I received the final year students' price for best teacher at medical studies. Apart from that I have been teaching at the international short course in clinical tropical medicine at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, since its start in 2007,  and for a five-years period at the Union's international tuberculosis course in Arusha, Tanzania (www.theunion.org). 

I teach various topics in internal medicine and infectious diseases, global health and tropical medicine, including antimicrobial resistance, sepsis, malaria, ebola, tuberculosis

I have have over 80 articles on pubmed, including 15 as first author and 16 as last author.

My most cited articles include [1-5]

 

1.         Blomberg B, Mohn KG, Brokstad KA, Zhou F, Linchausen DW, Hansen BA, Lartey S, Onyango TB, Kuwelker K, Saevik M, et al: Long COVID in a prospective cohort of home-isolated patients. Nat Med 2021, 27:1607-1613.

2.         Blomberg B, Manji KP, Urassa WK, Tamim BS, Mwakagile DS, Jureen R, Msangi V, Tellevik MG, Holberg-Petersen M, Harthug S, et al: Antimicrobial resistance predicts death in Tanzanian children with bloodstream infections: a prospective cohort study. BMC Infect Dis 2007, 7:43.

3.         Blomberg B, Jureen R, Manji KP, Tamim BS, Mwakagile DS, Urassa WK, Fataki M, Msangi V, Tellevik MG, Maselle SY, Langeland N: High rate of fatal cases of pediatric septicemia caused by gram-negative bacteria with extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. J Clin Microbiol 2005, 43:745-749.

4.         Blomberg B, Fourie B: Fixed-dose combination drugs for tuberculosis: application in standardised treatment regimens. Drugs 2003, 63:535-553.

5.         Blomberg B, Spinaci S, Fourie B, Laing R: The rationale for recommending fixed-dose combination tablets for treatment of tuberculosis. Bull World Health Organ 2001, 79:61-68.

Academic article
  • Show author(s) (2024). Complete recovery after fulminant myocarditis in a patient with COVID-19. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 785-789.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Genetic determinants of macrolide and tetracycline resistance in penicillin non-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from people living with HIV in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials. 1-7.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Fluoroquinolone resistance among fecal extended spectrum βeta lactamases positive Enterobacterales isolates from children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. BMC Infectious Diseases. 13 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Weight gain during treatment course of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with hematological malignancies affects treatment outcome. Cytotherapy. 1190-1194.
  • Show author(s) (2022). The performances of three commercially available assays for the detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies at different time points following SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Viruses. 1-11.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Symptom Burden and Immune Dynamics 6 to 18 Months Following Mild Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection (SARS-CoV-2): A Case-control Study. Clinical Infectious Diseases.
  • Show author(s) (2022). SARS CoV-2 Infection among Health Care Workers from Different Health Care Facilities in Western Norway: A Prospective, Cross-Sectional Study. Viruses. 8 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Remdesivir and three other drugs for hospitalised patients with COVID-19: final results of the WHO Solidarity randomised trial and updated meta-analyses. The Lancet. 1941-1953.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Malaria prevalence and performance of diagnostic tests among patients hospitalized with acute undifferentiated fever in Zanzibar. Malaria Journal. 1-8.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Intermittent left bundle branch block with septal flash and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in a young woman with long COVID-19. BMJ Case Reports.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Gastrointestinal colonization of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing bacteria among children below five years of age hospitalized with fever in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance. 107-114.
  • Show author(s) (2022). First identification of bla NDM-5 producing Escherichia coli from neonates and a HIV infected adult in Tanzania. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 11 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Acriflavine, a clinically approved drug, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and other betacoronaviruses. Cell Chemical Biology.
  • Show author(s) (2022). A rapid antibody screening haemagglutination test for predicting immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. Communications Medicine. 11 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Use of probiotics to reduce infections and death and prevent colonization with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria among newborn infants in Tanzania (ProRIDE Trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial. Trials.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Predominance of PVL-negative community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sequence type 8 in newly diagnosed HIV-infected adults, Tanzania. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 1-9.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Persistent pulmonary pathology after COVID-19 is associated with high viral load, weak antibody response, and high levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9. Scientific Reports. 1-12.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Molecular characterisation of the first New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase 1-producing Acinetobacter baumannii from Tanzania. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 1080-1085.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Lower antibiotic prescription rates in hospitalized COVID-19 patients than influenza patients, a prospective study. Infectious Diseases. 1-12.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Long-term echocardiographic follow-up of a patient with constrictive pericarditis treated with antituberculosis drugs and pericardiectomy. BMJ Case Reports. 1-7.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Long COVID in a prospective cohort of home-isolated patients. Nature Medicine. 1607-1613.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Leishmaniasis i Norge. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 1-9.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Evaluation of the Effects of Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine on Viral Clearance in COVID-19 : A Randomized Trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 1261-1269.
  • Show author(s) (2021). COVID-19 myocarditis and postinfection Bell's palsy. BMJ Case Reports. 1-4.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Attack rates amongst household members of outpatients with confirmed COVID-19 in Bergen, Norway: A case-ascertained study. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe. 9 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Adherence to community versus facility-based delivery of monthly malaria chemoprevention with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for the post-discharge management of severe anemia in Malawian children: A cluster randomized trial. PLOS ONE. 1-16.
  • Show author(s) (2021). A cohort analysis of survival and outcomes in severely anaemic children with moderate to severe acute malnutrition in Malawi. PLOS ONE. 1-11.
  • Show author(s) (2020). SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibody responses in Norwegian healthcare workers after the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective cohort study. Journal of Infectious Diseases.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Point-of-care influenza testing impacts clinical decision, patient flow and length of stay in hospitalized adults. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 97-108.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Horizontal plasmid transfer among klebsiella pneumoniae isolates is the key factor for dissemination of extended-spectrum β-lactamases among children in Tanzania. mSphere. 1-13.
  • Show author(s) (2020). High rate of antimicrobial resistance and multiple mutations in the dihydrofolate reductase gene among Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from HIV-infected adults in a community setting in Tanzania. Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance. 749-753.
  • Show author(s) (2020). High prevalence of fecal carriage of extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing enterobacteriaceae among newly HIV-diagnosed adults in a community setting in Tanzania. Microbial Drug Resistance. 1540-1545.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and miliary tuberculosis in a previously healthy individual: a case report. Journal of Medical Case Reports. 1-9.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Bacteraemia, malaria, and case fatality among children hospitalized with fever in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Frontiers in Microbiology. 1-10.
  • Show author(s) (2019). En mann i 80-årene med leddgikt og vedvarende feber. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 6 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Assessment of malaria real-time PCR methods and application with focus on lowlevel parasitaemia. PLOS ONE. 1-15.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Introducing post-discharge malaria chemoprevention (PMC) for management of severe anemia in Malawian children: a qualitative study of community health workers’ perceptions and motivation. BMC Health Services Research. 1-15.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Delivery strategies for malaria chemoprevention with monthly dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for the post-discharge management of severe anaemia in children aged less than 5 years old in Malawi: a protocol for a cluster randomized trial. BMC Pediatrics. 1-8.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Aortic valve endocarditis with Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae: A rare zoonosis. Infectious Disease Reports. 47-49.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Molecular Characterization of Cotrimoxazole Resistance Genes and Their Associated Integrons in Clinical Isolates of Gram-Negative Bacteria from Tanzania. Microbial Drug Resistance. 37-43.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Detection of CTX-M-15 beta-lactamases in Enterobacteriaceae causing hospital- and community-acquired urinary tract infections as early as 2004, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. BMC Infectious Diseases. 1-7.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Comprehensive analysis of prevalence, epidemiologic characteristics, and clinical characteristics of monoinfection and coinfection in diarrheal diseases in children in Tanzania. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1074-1083.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Acute undifferentiated fever in India: A multicentre study of aetiology and diagnostic accuracy. BMC Infectious Diseases. 1-11.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Norway: a nationwide study, 1995-2014. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. 786-792.
  • Show author(s) (2016). High prevalence of faecal carriage of esbl-producing enterobacteriaceae among children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. PLOS ONE.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Clinical features of suspected Ebola cases referred to the Moyamba ETC, Sierra Leone: Challenges in the later stages of the 2014 outbreak. BMC Infectious Diseases.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Clinical features of and risk factors for fatal Ebola virus disease, Moyamba District, Sierra Leone, December 2014–February 2015. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 1537-1544.
  • Show author(s) (2016). A high malaria prevalence identified by PCR among patients with acute undifferentiated fever in India. PLOS ONE.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum/hominis, Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia among Young Children with and without Diarrhea in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of microbes causing bloodstream infections in unguja, Zanzibar. PLOS ONE.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Genetic relatedness and risk factor analysis of ampicillin-resistant and high-level gentamicin-resistant enterococci causing bloodstream infections in Tanzanian children. BMC Infectious Diseases.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Beredskap ved alvorlig malaria. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 533-535.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Prevalence and molecular characterisation of human adenovirus in diarrhoeic children in Tanzania; a case control study. BMC Infectious Diseases. 9 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2014). PCR targeting Plasmodium mitochondrial genome of DNA extracted from dried blood on filter paper compared to whole blood. Malaria Journal.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Identification of VIM-2-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Tanzania is associated with sequence types 244 and 640 and the location of blaVIM-2 in a TniC integron. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 682-685.
  • Show author(s) (2014). High nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus among healthy tanzanian under-5 children. Microbial Drug Resistance. 82-88.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Genetic diversity of norovirus in hospitalised diarrhoeic children and asymptomatic controls in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Infection, Genetics and Evolution. 340-347.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Genetic diversity of circulating rotavirus strains in Tanzania prior to the introduction of vaccination. PLOS ONE.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Education and knowledge helps combating malaria, but not degedege: A cross-sectional study in Rufiji, Tanzania. Malaria Journal.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Comparison of four methods for extracting DNA from dried blood on filter paper for PCR targeting the mitochondrial Plasmodium genome. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 488-494.
  • Show author(s) (2013). No asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia found among 108 young children at one health facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Malaria Journal.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Challenges in diagnosing paediatric malaria in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Malaria Journal.
  • Show author(s) (2013). A novel, single-amplification PCR targeting mitochondrial genome highly sensitive and specific in diagnosing malaria among returned travellers in Bergen, Norway. Malaria Journal. 8 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Penicillin resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae in nasopharyngeal carrier children under 5 years of age in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 952-959.
  • Show author(s) (2011). CNS involvement and treatment with interferon-alpha are independent prognostic factors in Erdheim-Chester disease: a multicenter survival analysis of 53 patients. Blood. 2778-2782.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Tuberculous meningitis and resistance to isoniazid. BMJ. British Medical Journal.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Diagnosis and follow-up of treatment of latent tuberculosis; the utility of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube assay in outpatients from a tuberculosis low-endemic country. BMC Infectious Diseases. 9 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Falciparum malaria and HIV-1 in hospitalized adults in Maputo, Mozambique: does HIV-infection obscure the malaria diagnosis? Malaria Journal.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-type SHV-12-producing Enterobacteriaceae causing septicemia in Tanzanian children: vectors for horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance. Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease. 351-354.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Antimicrobial resistance predicts death in Tanzanian children with bloodstream infections: a prospective cohort study. BMC Infectious Diseases.
  • Show author(s) (2005). High rate of fatal cases of pediatric septicemia caused by gram-negative bacteria with extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 745-749.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Antimicrobial resistance in urinary bacterial isolates from pregnant women in rural Tanzania: Implications for public health. Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. 262-268.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance at a tertiary hospital in Tanzania. BMC Public Health. 45.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Nosocomial outbreak of neonatal Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis meningitis in a rural hospital in northern Tanzania. BMC Infectious Diseases. 35.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Fixed dose combinations for tuberculosis: Lessons learned from clinical, formulation and regulatory perspective. Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology. 703-721.
  • Show author(s) (2003). Effects of zinc deficiency and pneumococcal surface protein A immunization on zinc status and the risk of severe infection in mice. Infection and Immunity. 2009-2013.
Academic lecture
  • Show author(s) (2021). Effectiveness of community versus facility delivery of dihydroartemisinin-peraquine for post-discharge malaria chemoprevention in management of severe anaemia in Malawian children.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Delivery strategies of malaria chemoprevention for post-discharge management of children with severe anemia in Malawi (oral).
Abstract
  • Show author(s) (2013). Erdheim-Chester Disease: A Monocentric Series Of 96 Patients. Arthritis and Rheumatism. S858-S858.
Academic literature review
  • Show author(s) (2023). Tuberculosis-Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: A Review of Current Literature. Journal of Clinical Medicine.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Antibiotikaresistens i utviklingsland. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 2462-2466.
  • Show author(s) (2003). Fixed-dose combination drugs for tuberculosis: application in standardised treatment regimens. Drugs. 535-553.

More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)

I am a medical doctor, specialist in infectious diseases and internal medicine at Haukeland University Hospital, and an associate professor at the Dept of Clinical Science, University of Bergen. 

I studied at the University of Bergen, MD (1994), PhD (2007). My PhD work was on antimicrobial resistance in severe infections in children in Tanzania, and have continued with research on antimicrobial resistance later on. 

Apart from that, some of my interests are

- tropical medicine, major global infections such as TB, HIV and malaria

- viral infections outbreaks, Ebola, Covid-19