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New inroads made in battling the Avian flu and Dengue fever
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/233155/1/.html
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/233155/1/.html
The world is half way to finding answers to combating the avian flu, according a leading scientist speaking at a Singapore gathering of experts in emerging infectious diseases.
Dr Yi Guan, Director of State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong, said at the Applied Biosystems lecture series that his research team has isolated more than 2000 H5N1 viruses, which is 80 per cent of the world total. Still he says, there is much more to understand in terms of the genesis, spread and maintenance of the H5N1 influenza virus.
?The latest discovery we have made in our studies is that the virus, after an outbreak will stay in a region for some time, and then diversify. It will cause a lot of trouble if we have different viruses in different regions,? says Dr Guan.
?We?re keeping an eye on virus behaviour and how they?re changing. It is impossible to eradicate the virus from nature but we can reduce the activity, reduce the prevalence and reduce endemic occurrences?.
Avian influenza strains which are well adapted to birds can rapidly mutate among domesticated poultry and kill over 90 per cent of an entire flock before spreading to other flocks with similar deadly effect.
The H5N1 bird flu, which is a subtype of the Influenza A virus that affects humans, can also have a deadly effect on people who come into close contact with the virus.
The infection, unlike normal seasonal influenza which causes only mild respiratory symptoms in most people, often follows an unusually aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality.
Just this week, Indonesia which has seen a number of human infections of bird flu, reported its 52nd bird flu death when a 20 year old man died, only a week after his brother succumbed to the same illness.
It is believed both men caught the virus from the same source, thereby ruling out the possibility of human-to-human infection.
Currently, the H5N1 bird flu virus is only capable of bird to human infections.
But the possibility of it mutating into a form that can be readily transmitted from one person to another is very real, which is why the work of scientists such as Dr Guan who focuses on prevention and preparedness against a bird flu pandemic, has become a global priority.
?One time, or some time, human-to-human transmission ? there is a chance to develop in that direction, but we also have a chance to limit that too?, says Dr Guan.
?In general we are improved, some countries it can be said, have 70 per cent readiness for a pandemic, others 20 per cent, others zero. Our job is to coordinate the ability for the whole world to fight against a pandemic?.
?Preparedness has dramatically increased, improved. But we want to escalate this to a certain level to reduce or minimise the possibility of a pandemic.?
Reducing and even stopping altogether the sale of live poultry in urban and high-density living areas such as Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai is the way to go, according to Dr Guan.
As for developing vaccines to prevent bird flu spreading among poultry, Dr Guan said it this is difficult as different birds have a different reaction pattern to vaccines.
Dr Guan also believes that the development of Tamiflu as an antiviral is only the first in line to be developed, ?We cannot only count on Tamiflu ? in some cases, there is the potential ability to be drug resistant. We need to develop more?.
Also being discussed at the international scientific lecture on infectious diseases emerging in South East Asia are the studies on transmission of Dengue fever infections, based on data largely collected in Singapore.
?We want to know how the virus makes you sick; do some viruses make you more sick than others?? says Dr Martin Hibberd, Group Leader, Infectious Disease, Genome Institute of Singapore.
?Previously it has been difficult to investigate because we could only study it in parts, but due to technology we can now look at the whole genome, and we?re starting to get a feel for the fact that maybe the virus variation is important, and some aspects of the virus may lead to you getting a more serious disease than other virus strains?.
At the lecture attended by some 150 people at the Biopolis, Singapore, Dr Hibberd explained how the technology developed during SARS, using a different sequencing approach to allow much higher numbers of full length genomes to be studied, can be applied to dengue research.
?Just a few years ago sequencing one viral genome was a major undertaking, but now with the technologies that we have built up, we can do hundreds much more quickly?
During SARS we were able to follow which person had given the virus to which person, and by studying the genome we were able to isolate the virus. Although we?re still putting together the data now, it looks like we may be able to do the same thing for Dengue.?
His studies include collecting data from the Ang Mo Kio housing estate which had 450 fever patients during the Dengue outbreak in Singapore last year.
?We start to understand how important last year?s outbreak was?and we can start to understand where the mosquito is living, which mosquito transmits it to which person, and other aspects of how the transmission in Singapore occurs.?
?It?s not a complete picture yet, but it?s new breaking news ? it?s exciting to have a new insight into how we might understand Dengue disease in the future.?
Dr Gibberd hopes as soon as one year from now, he will be able to provide some serious answers about predicting how a particular virus affects its victim.
?We want to be able to predict dangerous situations so we can make doctors fully aware, and we?re also trying to find new medicines ? at the moment there is no cure or specific treatment, but drugs are in the pipeline and should be out in the not-too-distant future.?
Dr Guan and Dr Gibberd both spoke today at one of a series of five lectures to be held in Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, in response to the growing threat of Dengue and Avian flu in South East Asia.
Dr Yi Guan, Director of State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong, said at the Applied Biosystems lecture series that his research team has isolated more than 2000 H5N1 viruses, which is 80 per cent of the world total. Still he says, there is much more to understand in terms of the genesis, spread and maintenance of the H5N1 influenza virus.
?The latest discovery we have made in our studies is that the virus, after an outbreak will stay in a region for some time, and then diversify. It will cause a lot of trouble if we have different viruses in different regions,? says Dr Guan.
?We?re keeping an eye on virus behaviour and how they?re changing. It is impossible to eradicate the virus from nature but we can reduce the activity, reduce the prevalence and reduce endemic occurrences?.
Avian influenza strains which are well adapted to birds can rapidly mutate among domesticated poultry and kill over 90 per cent of an entire flock before spreading to other flocks with similar deadly effect.
The H5N1 bird flu, which is a subtype of the Influenza A virus that affects humans, can also have a deadly effect on people who come into close contact with the virus.
The infection, unlike normal seasonal influenza which causes only mild respiratory symptoms in most people, often follows an unusually aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality.
Just this week, Indonesia which has seen a number of human infections of bird flu, reported its 52nd bird flu death when a 20 year old man died, only a week after his brother succumbed to the same illness.
It is believed both men caught the virus from the same source, thereby ruling out the possibility of human-to-human infection.
Currently, the H5N1 bird flu virus is only capable of bird to human infections.
But the possibility of it mutating into a form that can be readily transmitted from one person to another is very real, which is why the work of scientists such as Dr Guan who focuses on prevention and preparedness against a bird flu pandemic, has become a global priority.
?One time, or some time, human-to-human transmission ? there is a chance to develop in that direction, but we also have a chance to limit that too?, says Dr Guan.
?In general we are improved, some countries it can be said, have 70 per cent readiness for a pandemic, others 20 per cent, others zero. Our job is to coordinate the ability for the whole world to fight against a pandemic?.
?Preparedness has dramatically increased, improved. But we want to escalate this to a certain level to reduce or minimise the possibility of a pandemic.?
Reducing and even stopping altogether the sale of live poultry in urban and high-density living areas such as Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai is the way to go, according to Dr Guan.
As for developing vaccines to prevent bird flu spreading among poultry, Dr Guan said it this is difficult as different birds have a different reaction pattern to vaccines.
Dr Guan also believes that the development of Tamiflu as an antiviral is only the first in line to be developed, ?We cannot only count on Tamiflu ? in some cases, there is the potential ability to be drug resistant. We need to develop more?.
Also being discussed at the international scientific lecture on infectious diseases emerging in South East Asia are the studies on transmission of Dengue fever infections, based on data largely collected in Singapore.
?We want to know how the virus makes you sick; do some viruses make you more sick than others?? says Dr Martin Hibberd, Group Leader, Infectious Disease, Genome Institute of Singapore.
?Previously it has been difficult to investigate because we could only study it in parts, but due to technology we can now look at the whole genome, and we?re starting to get a feel for the fact that maybe the virus variation is important, and some aspects of the virus may lead to you getting a more serious disease than other virus strains?.
At the lecture attended by some 150 people at the Biopolis, Singapore, Dr Hibberd explained how the technology developed during SARS, using a different sequencing approach to allow much higher numbers of full length genomes to be studied, can be applied to dengue research.
?Just a few years ago sequencing one viral genome was a major undertaking, but now with the technologies that we have built up, we can do hundreds much more quickly?
During SARS we were able to follow which person had given the virus to which person, and by studying the genome we were able to isolate the virus. Although we?re still putting together the data now, it looks like we may be able to do the same thing for Dengue.?
His studies include collecting data from the Ang Mo Kio housing estate which had 450 fever patients during the Dengue outbreak in Singapore last year.
?We start to understand how important last year?s outbreak was?and we can start to understand where the mosquito is living, which mosquito transmits it to which person, and other aspects of how the transmission in Singapore occurs.?
?It?s not a complete picture yet, but it?s new breaking news ? it?s exciting to have a new insight into how we might understand Dengue disease in the future.?
Dr Gibberd hopes as soon as one year from now, he will be able to provide some serious answers about predicting how a particular virus affects its victim.
?We want to be able to predict dangerous situations so we can make doctors fully aware, and we?re also trying to find new medicines ? at the moment there is no cure or specific treatment, but drugs are in the pipeline and should be out in the not-too-distant future.?
Dr Guan and Dr Gibberd both spoke today at one of a series of five lectures to be held in Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, in response to the growing threat of Dengue and Avian flu in South East Asia.