Chikungunya News and Research

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Vaccine for Lassa fever set to enter clinical testing in humans

There is currently no vaccine for the Lassa arenavirus, which causes Lassa fever. This hemorrhagic fever, endemic in West Africa, infects up to 300,000 people each year.

24 Oct 2019

Emory researchers awarded NIAID contract to develop better drug against influenza

With the flu killing an average of 20,000 people annually in the United States and posing the larger threat of global pandemics, Emory University's strides in influenza research carry the hope of saving lives here and abroad.

23 Oct 2019

Study: Socioeconomics influences mosquito-borne disease risk in Baltimore

Low-income urban neighborhoods not only have more mosquitoes, but they are larger-bodied, indicating that they could be more efficient at transmitting diseases. So reports a Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies-led study, published in the Journal of Medical Entomology, investigating how socioeconomics influences mosquito-borne disease risk in Baltimore, Maryland.

16 Oct 2019

Computational analysis identifies key uncertainties for models of mosquito distribution in the U.S.

A computational analysis has identified key regions in the United States where model-based predictions of mosquito species distribution could be improved. Andrew Monaghan of the University of Colorado Boulder and colleagues present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.

From PLOS ONE 8 Oct 2019

Closely spaced habitats are more likely to be used by mosquitoes to lay eggs

Patches of standing water that are close together are more likely to be used by mosquitoes to lay eggs in than patches that are farther apart, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. The findings, recently published in Oecologia, have implications for human and animal health.

26 Sep 2019

Study opens up new ways to understand the cause of chronic viral arthritis

Since chikungunya virus emerged in the Americas in 2013, it has infected millions of people, causing fever, headache, rash, and muscle and joint pain.

29 Aug 2019

Studying human behavior might help curb mosquito-borne illness

Control and prevention of Aedes-transmitted viruses, such as dengue, chikungunya, or Zika relies heavily on vector control approaches. Given the effort and cost involved in implementation of vector control, targeting of control measures is highly desirable. However, it is unclear to what extent the effectiveness of highly focal and reactive control measures depends on the commuting and movement patterns of humans.

27 Aug 2019

New approach to detection reveals unreported Zika outbreak in 2017

Public health experts in the US have discovered that the Zika virus may still be spreading in the Americas, despite case reporting having approached close to zero.

23 Aug 2019

Public health officials unprepared for magnitude of heat waves and climate-related diseases

An epidemic of chronic kidney disease that has killed tens of thousands of agricultural workers worldwide, is just one of many ailments poised to strike as a result of climate change, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

23 Aug 2019

Mortality risk from yellow fever can be identified sooner

Approximately ten out of every 100 people who are bitten by mosquitos infected by the yellow fever virus develop symptoms of the disease. Although most infected people do not develop the disease, it is lethal to approximately 40% of those who do.

14 Aug 2019

Scientists point to enterovirus infection as cause for acute flaccid myelitis

Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the University of California San Diego report antibody evidence in cerebrospinal fluid that points to enterovirus infection as a cause for acute flaccid myelitis, a disease responsible for partially paralyzing more than 560 children in the United States since 2014. Results of the study appear in the journal mBio.

13 Aug 2019

Thymol antimicrobial in corn starch can help fight mosquito-borne diseases

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the major vector for many urban arboviruses, which can cause serious conditions such as dengue fever, Zika virus, Chikungunya, and yellow fever. Now, researchers have developed a cheap but effective larvicide using cornstarch.

7 Aug 2019

Mosquitoes change their hunting routines in response to host cues

Scientists have found that mosquitoes are changing their hunting routines in response to host cues. For example, in Africa, mosquitoes now recognize when people emerge from bednets in the morning and have begun hunting more often during the day than at night.

23 Jul 2019

Scientists identify mechanism that makes babies more likely than adults to die from sepsis

An immune mechanism that makes babies more likely than adults to die from sepsis has been identified by scientists affiliated with the Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State (Brazil).

4 Jul 2019

Snapshot of chikungunya could help find new ways to prevent or treat viral arthritis

Chikungunya virus, once confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, has infected more than 1 million people in the Americas since 2013, when mosquitoes carrying the virus were discovered in the Caribbean.

4 Jun 2019

Europe under major threat from vector-borne diseases

Researchers presenting at ECCMID have warned that vector-borne diseases are on the rise and threatening to spread into many parts of Europe.

From ESCMID 15 Apr 2019

Geographical range of vector-borne diseases expands rapidly, shows research

New research presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases in Amsterdam, Netherlands shows that the geographical range of vector-borne diseases such as chikungunya, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, and tick-borne encephalitis is expanding rapidly.

15 Apr 2019

New technique to test for viral infections discovered

A team of Colorado State University researchers has developed technology that can detect extremely small amounts of antibodies in a person's blood. Antibodies develop to infect cells or kill pathogens, essentially fighting off a bacteria or virus. The levels of antibodies in the blood can tell whether that person is sick.

9 Apr 2019

UTMB receives grant to combat highly-lethal hemorrhagic fever viruses

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Profectus Biosciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Mapp Biopharmaceutical and Genevant Sciences Corp. have been awarded up to $35 million to advance the development of rapid-acting vaccines and broad-spectrum treatments of the highly-lethal hemorrhagic fever viruses Ebola and Marburg.

9 Apr 2019

Global warming will raise risk of Mosquito borne diseases globally

Because of global warming, it is estimated that there will be a major surge in mosquito-transmitted diseases which would kill half a billion more people over the next three decades.

29 Mar 2019