Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2018/06/news-scan-jun-27-2018
News Scan for Jun 27, 2018
More suspected Ebola in the DRC; MERS vaccine clinical trial results; Dengue and Zika symptom differences
[h=3]Three more tested for suspected Ebola in DRC outbreak[/h] Intensive surveillance activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola virus outbreak have turned up three more suspected cases in the remote town of Bikoro, according to an update today from the country's health ministry.
Tests on earlier reported suspected illnesses have ruled out two infections, putting the outbreak total at 57 cases, including 38 confirmed, 15 probable, and 4 suspected cases. The number of people who have died from Ebola remained at 29.
In other outbreak developments, the ministry said the last 51 remaining contacts of the last lab-confirmed cases will complete their 21-day monitoring periods as of midnight tonight. Over the response period, health workers have monitored 1,706 contacts.
Global health officials have said they are cautiously optimistic that the outbreak has been contained. Vaccination activities continue, and 3,330 people have now been immunized with the experimental VSV-EBOV vaccine.
Jun 27 DRC health ministry Ebola update
[h=3]Inovio reports promising clinical trial findings for MERS-CoV vaccine[/h] Inovio today announced promising findings from a phase 1 study of a MERS-CoV vaccine that it is developing with GeneOne Life Science. Currently, there are no drugs or treatments approved for use against Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which has sickened at least 2,200 people since the virus was first detected in humans in 2012, 790 of them fatally.
The open-label, dose-escalation trial of INO-4700 (GLS-5300) was conducted in partnership with Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland, according to a press release from Inovio. The vaccine prompted an antibody response in 94% of participants 2 weeks after the third dose. No statistically significant antibody response rate differences were seen among the three different doses, and participants maintained antibody response through 60 weeks after dosing.
Researchers presented their findings yesterday in Seoul, South Korea, at the WHO-IVI Joint Symposium for MERS-CoV Vaccine Development.
In April, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) awarded Inovio $56 million to develop the MERS-CoV vaccine through phase 2, with an overarching goal of getting a MERS-CoV vaccine available for stockpiling as soon as possible for emergency use.
Inovio said it and GeneOne Life Science plan on launching a phase 1/2 study of the vaccine in the third quarter of 2018, which will take place in South Korea with $34 million in funding from the Samsung Foundation through the International Vaccine Institute.
Jun 27 Inovio press release
[h=3]Study shows clinical differences between dengue, Zika viruses[/h] Dengue and Zika viruses co-circulate in many tropical regions, and overlapping presentation can make clinical diagnosis a challenge. A new case-control discovery cohort study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases identified key differences in a group of patients from Singapore.
Dengue is endemic in Singapore, and Zika has been circulating since 2016 through the Southeast Asia region.
The study was conducted at the National University Hospital, where 121 patients were tested for both viruses: 34 had Zika virus and 87 had dengue infection. Several clinical indices distinguished the viruses, including conjunctivitis, which indicated Zika virus infection (odds ratio [OR] 30.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 9.57?94.44; p < 0.001). Fever, myalgia, and headache, however, were more likely to be found in dengue patients (OR 0.05, 0.20, and 0.12, respectively).
Dengue patients also had lower platelet counts and monocytosis. Platelets and monocytes in Zika patients were within normal ranges.
"These simple clinical assessments using conjunctivitis and basic blood count parameters will be helpful in regions of the world where both Zika virus and DENV are endemic," the authors concluded.
Jun 26 Emerg Infect Dis study
News Scan for Jun 27, 2018
More suspected Ebola in the DRC; MERS vaccine clinical trial results; Dengue and Zika symptom differences
[h=3]Three more tested for suspected Ebola in DRC outbreak[/h] Intensive surveillance activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola virus outbreak have turned up three more suspected cases in the remote town of Bikoro, according to an update today from the country's health ministry.
Tests on earlier reported suspected illnesses have ruled out two infections, putting the outbreak total at 57 cases, including 38 confirmed, 15 probable, and 4 suspected cases. The number of people who have died from Ebola remained at 29.
In other outbreak developments, the ministry said the last 51 remaining contacts of the last lab-confirmed cases will complete their 21-day monitoring periods as of midnight tonight. Over the response period, health workers have monitored 1,706 contacts.
Global health officials have said they are cautiously optimistic that the outbreak has been contained. Vaccination activities continue, and 3,330 people have now been immunized with the experimental VSV-EBOV vaccine.
Jun 27 DRC health ministry Ebola update
[h=3]Inovio reports promising clinical trial findings for MERS-CoV vaccine[/h] Inovio today announced promising findings from a phase 1 study of a MERS-CoV vaccine that it is developing with GeneOne Life Science. Currently, there are no drugs or treatments approved for use against Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which has sickened at least 2,200 people since the virus was first detected in humans in 2012, 790 of them fatally.
The open-label, dose-escalation trial of INO-4700 (GLS-5300) was conducted in partnership with Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland, according to a press release from Inovio. The vaccine prompted an antibody response in 94% of participants 2 weeks after the third dose. No statistically significant antibody response rate differences were seen among the three different doses, and participants maintained antibody response through 60 weeks after dosing.
Researchers presented their findings yesterday in Seoul, South Korea, at the WHO-IVI Joint Symposium for MERS-CoV Vaccine Development.
In April, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) awarded Inovio $56 million to develop the MERS-CoV vaccine through phase 2, with an overarching goal of getting a MERS-CoV vaccine available for stockpiling as soon as possible for emergency use.
Inovio said it and GeneOne Life Science plan on launching a phase 1/2 study of the vaccine in the third quarter of 2018, which will take place in South Korea with $34 million in funding from the Samsung Foundation through the International Vaccine Institute.
Jun 27 Inovio press release
[h=3]Study shows clinical differences between dengue, Zika viruses[/h] Dengue and Zika viruses co-circulate in many tropical regions, and overlapping presentation can make clinical diagnosis a challenge. A new case-control discovery cohort study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases identified key differences in a group of patients from Singapore.
Dengue is endemic in Singapore, and Zika has been circulating since 2016 through the Southeast Asia region.
The study was conducted at the National University Hospital, where 121 patients were tested for both viruses: 34 had Zika virus and 87 had dengue infection. Several clinical indices distinguished the viruses, including conjunctivitis, which indicated Zika virus infection (odds ratio [OR] 30.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 9.57?94.44; p < 0.001). Fever, myalgia, and headache, however, were more likely to be found in dengue patients (OR 0.05, 0.20, and 0.12, respectively).
Dengue patients also had lower platelet counts and monocytosis. Platelets and monocytes in Zika patients were within normal ranges.
"These simple clinical assessments using conjunctivitis and basic blood count parameters will be helpful in regions of the world where both Zika virus and DENV are endemic," the authors concluded.
Jun 26 Emerg Infect Dis study