As new and emerging pathogens increasingly cause small and recurrent outbreaks amongst humans, it pays for governments to invest more in virology research, lab diagnostics and modern infection control measures, says Koen van Rompay, a virologist and the Director of the Pathogen Detection Laboratory, California National Primate Research Centre.
“It is also important that more young scientists are encouraged to research in emerging infectious diseases. Because there will always be new pathogens and as long as we have good science, we can fight back,” he said.
Dr. van Rompay had helped develop and test Tenofovir, the most frequently used current anti-HIV drug in the world. Currently involved with the human trials for Zika and Chikungunya vaccines, he is in the city to deliver a special lecture organised by the Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute.
He applauded the Kerala government for the efficient manner in which the State health system had contained Nipah outbreaks twice in a row.
Awareness vital
“Small outbreaks of emerging new diseases will recur but health professionals have to be trained to be alert to new infections and the general public must be given proper awareness on the new health threats. Governments should ensure that even small hospitals are trained to have a quick alert and response system. It is vital that livestock diseases are monitored closely and that various disciplines such as health, veterinary medicine and wild life sciences work in close communication and collaboration as most of the newly emerging diseases are zoonotic in origin,” Dr. van Rompay pointed out.
HIV vaccine
An effective vaccine against HIV is still far out. But a vaccine against Zika and CHK viruses seems very much possible in the near future as simian trials and Phase II human trials have demonstrated. Interestingly, in Latin America, where over 80 % of the population is now immune against Zika, there have been no symptomatic cases of dengue fever in recent times, he said.
“More studies are needed but it does look like Zika infection has some protective effect against dengue. Developing a dengue vaccine has so far been a difficult task because the virus has four sero types. But if the Zika vaccine in the pipeline can offer some protection against dengue – if it can at least prevent serious dengue illness – it would be great,” Dr. van Rompay said.
Last week, in a major breakthrough, an experimental drug (Remdesivir), originally developed against Ebola by a U.S. firm, Gilead Sciences, has been found to be protective against NiV infection in a trial on African green monkeys, he said. The study, led by CDC, appeared in Science Translational Medicine last week, he said.
“More trials are needed but what generally works for monkeys, works very well for humans. Ebola and Nipah belong to different virus families but science is amazing in that often one drug developed for one condition could prove to be effective against another. There is a lot of human drug safety data available on Remdesivir already, so an effective drug against the lethal NiV might not be too far away, Dr. van Rompay said.