Global & Disaster Medicine

Archive for the ‘Chikungunya’ Category

An experimental vaccine to protect against the mosquito-borne illness chikungunya is being tested in a Phase 2 trial

Friday, November 27th, 2015

This digitally-colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) depicts numerous chikungunya virus particles, which are composed of a central dense core that is surrounded by a viral envelope.
Credit: CDC

NIH-Sponsored Clinical Trial of Chikungunya Vaccine Opens

An experimental vaccine to protect against the mosquito-borne illness chikungunya is being tested in a Phase 2 trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Results from an initial trial of the vaccine, which was developed by scientists at the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), were reported in 2014. In that study, all 25 vaccine recipients developed robust immune responses and no safety concerns were noted. The new trial is designed to enroll 400 healthy adult volunteers aged 18 to 60 years old at six sites in the Caribbean. It will continue to gather data on the candidate vaccine’s safety and ability to elicit immune responses, including antibodies.

The hallmark symptoms of chikungunya are severe joint pain accompanied by fever and headache. The pain typically eases after about a week but can persist for months or years in some cases. There are no specific treatments for chikungunya infection and no vaccine to prevent it.

Since its appearance in the Western Hemisphere in late 2013, cases of chikungunya have skyrocketed. So far in 2015, more than 621,000 suspected and confirmed cases have been reported throughout the Americas.

“The recent re-emergence of chikungunya virus in this hemisphere has rapidly become a significant health burden,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “Our chikungunya vaccine development efforts are part of a broader research effort to prevent, diagnose, treat and ultimately control this painful illness, which can strike anyone unlucky enough to be bitten by an infected mosquito.”

The experimental vaccine, developed by investigators at NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center, uses virus-like particles (VLPs) instead of either inactivated or weakened whole virus. VLP vaccines can stimulate immune responses comparable to those resulting from naturally acquired immunity following infection and, because virus is not needed to produce VLP vaccines, they do not need to be prepared in high-level biocontainment facilities.

Eligible volunteers will be randomly assigned to enroll into one of two groups of 200 people each. Study participants will receive either two doses of the candidate vaccine spaced 28 days apart or two doses of an inactive placebo. Blood samples will be drawn at multiple time points following the injections to assess whether the candidate vaccine prompted the production of antibodies to chikungunya virus.

Additional details about the trial can be found at ClinicalTrials.gov using the identifier NCT02562482.

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References:

L-J Chang et al. Chikungunya virus-like particle vaccine elicits neutralizing antibodies in healthy adults in a phase I dose escalation clinical trial. The Lancet DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61185-5 (2014).

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Chikungunya: Current Situation

Saturday, November 21st, 2015

CDC

Where Has Chikungunya Virus Been Found?

Prior to 2013, chikungunya virus outbreaks had been identified in countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
In late 2013, the first local transmission of chikungunya virus in the Americas was identified in Caribbean countries and territories. Local transmission means that mosquitoes in the area have been infected with the virus and are spreading it to people.
Since then, local transmission has been identified in 45 countries or territories throughout the Americas with more than 1.7 million suspected cases reported to the Pan American Health Organization from affected areas (Updated data from PAHO).
For information on current outbreaks, consult CDC’s Traveler’s Health website.
Click here for more information on chikungunya in the United States(http://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/geo/united-states.html).

Countries and territories where chikungunya cases have been reported* (as of October 20, 2015)

Image: Countries with current or previous local transmission of chikungunya virus, listed in below data table

*Does not include countries or territories where only imported cases have been documented. This map is updated weekly if there are new countries or territories that report local chikungunya virus transmission.

AFRICA

Benin
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Guinea
Kenya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mauritius
Mayotte
Nigeria
Republic of Congo
Reunion
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda
Zimbabwe

ASIA

Bangladesh
Bhutan
Cambodia
China
India
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Maldives
Myanmar (Burma)
Pakistan
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Thailand
Timor
Vietnam
Yemen

EUROPE

Italy
France

AMERICAS

Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Colombia
Costa Rica
Curacao
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
French Guiana
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Martinique
Mexico
Montserrat
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Martin
Sint Maarten
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
United States
US Virgin Islands
Venezuela

OCEANIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS

American Samoa
Cook Islands
Federal States of Micronesia
French Polynesia
Kiribati
New Caledonia
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Tokelau
Tonga

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