Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/11/news-scan-nov-11-2016
News Scan for Nov 11, 2016
Zika developments; Chagas disease burden
Filed Under:
Chagas disease; Zika
[h=3]More animal trial results for Zika vaccine, Florida's local cases grow[/h] Researchers from the Wistar Institute and the Public Health Agency of Canada yesterday reported promising findings in mice and nonhuman primates for a DNA-based Zika vaccine developed by Inovio, GeneOne Life Sciences, and academic institutions.
All vaccinated animals were protected from Zika after experimental infection. Compared to unvaccinated animals, the vaccinated ones appeared to be protected against cerebral cortex and hippocampal degeneration. The team published its findings in npj Vaccines.
The new findings follow promising results published in February from a mouse study of Inovio's Zika vaccine, which is delivered through an electroporation delivery system.
In a press release, the Wistar Institute said the vaccine is currently being tested in two phase 1 human trials with the first results for one of them expected by the end of the year.
Nov 10 npj Vaccines abstract
Nov 10 Wistar Institute press release
In other Zika developments, the Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) today reported two more locally acquired cases, both of them linked to the Miami Beach outbreak. Florida Health said one of the cases involves a patient from out-of-state.
The additional cases boost Florida's local infection total to 224.
Nov 11 Florida Health daily Zika update
[h=3]Study reveals Chagas disease burden in south Texas[/h] The prevalence of Chagas disease in Texas' Rio Grande Valley area is much greater than originally thought, as much as 23 times higher than earlier estimates, according to a study published yesterday by a team from the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University.
After testing kissing bugs that spread the Trypanosoma cruzi parasites that are responsible for the disease and analyzing previously collected blood samples from coyotes, stray dogs, and humans from the Rio Grande Valley, scientists reported their disease burden estimate in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Chagas disease is a serious concern, because nearly a third of infected people can develop potentially fatal cardiomyopathy. It is predominantly found in high-poverty areas where substandard living conditions put people in contact with the insects that spread the disease.
Of 841 human blood samples researchers tested, 3 (0.4%) were positive for T cruzi, along with evidence that 8% of coyotes and 3.8% of stray dogs were infected. Of the kissing bugs they sampled, 56.5% were positive for the parasite. Based on the findings, they estimated that 4,600 people in the valley are infected with Chagas disease, with 1,300 of them at risk for cardiomyopathy.
Larger, more extensive seroprevalence studies are underway in the Rio Grande Valley to better assess the risk, according to the study. The authors wrote, "with up to 30% of infected individuals developing a potentially fatal cardiac disease, it is imperative that we identify and treat patients before heart disease occurs."
Nov 10 PLoS Negl Trop Dis report
Nov 10 PLoS press release
News Scan for Nov 11, 2016
Zika developments; Chagas disease burden
Filed Under:
Chagas disease; Zika
[h=3]More animal trial results for Zika vaccine, Florida's local cases grow[/h] Researchers from the Wistar Institute and the Public Health Agency of Canada yesterday reported promising findings in mice and nonhuman primates for a DNA-based Zika vaccine developed by Inovio, GeneOne Life Sciences, and academic institutions.
All vaccinated animals were protected from Zika after experimental infection. Compared to unvaccinated animals, the vaccinated ones appeared to be protected against cerebral cortex and hippocampal degeneration. The team published its findings in npj Vaccines.
The new findings follow promising results published in February from a mouse study of Inovio's Zika vaccine, which is delivered through an electroporation delivery system.
In a press release, the Wistar Institute said the vaccine is currently being tested in two phase 1 human trials with the first results for one of them expected by the end of the year.
Nov 10 npj Vaccines abstract
Nov 10 Wistar Institute press release
In other Zika developments, the Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) today reported two more locally acquired cases, both of them linked to the Miami Beach outbreak. Florida Health said one of the cases involves a patient from out-of-state.
The additional cases boost Florida's local infection total to 224.
Nov 11 Florida Health daily Zika update
[h=3]Study reveals Chagas disease burden in south Texas[/h] The prevalence of Chagas disease in Texas' Rio Grande Valley area is much greater than originally thought, as much as 23 times higher than earlier estimates, according to a study published yesterday by a team from the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University.
After testing kissing bugs that spread the Trypanosoma cruzi parasites that are responsible for the disease and analyzing previously collected blood samples from coyotes, stray dogs, and humans from the Rio Grande Valley, scientists reported their disease burden estimate in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Chagas disease is a serious concern, because nearly a third of infected people can develop potentially fatal cardiomyopathy. It is predominantly found in high-poverty areas where substandard living conditions put people in contact with the insects that spread the disease.
Of 841 human blood samples researchers tested, 3 (0.4%) were positive for T cruzi, along with evidence that 8% of coyotes and 3.8% of stray dogs were infected. Of the kissing bugs they sampled, 56.5% were positive for the parasite. Based on the findings, they estimated that 4,600 people in the valley are infected with Chagas disease, with 1,300 of them at risk for cardiomyopathy.
Larger, more extensive seroprevalence studies are underway in the Rio Grande Valley to better assess the risk, according to the study. The authors wrote, "with up to 30% of infected individuals developing a potentially fatal cardiac disease, it is imperative that we identify and treat patients before heart disease occurs."
Nov 10 PLoS Negl Trop Dis report
Nov 10 PLoS press release