Wellcome Trust funds dengue fever research in Belgium
27 October 2009
Dengue fever, or 'breakbone fever' as it is sometimes called, is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, but as yet there are no vaccines or curative treatments for the disease, which is caused by infection with the dengue virus.
Researchers at the Laboratory for Virology and Experimental Chemotherapy (Rega Institute) and the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) at K.U. Leuven will receive the funding as part of the Trust's Seeding Drug Discovery initiative, a £91m fund aimed at developing new drugs to address areas of unmet medical need.
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 50 to 100m people are infected with the dengue virus every year. In approximately half a million cases the disease takes on a life-threatening form: patients develop bleeding or go into shock. Children are especially sensitive to the virus and as a result the majority of victims are children. The number of cases has increased rapidly in recent years.
Currently, the only way to counteract the spread of dengue is to exterminate the mosquitoes that carry the virus. Since no vaccines exist, it is of the utmost importance to develop medications for the treatment of dengue, including preventative medication, as has also been done in the case of malaria, for example.
The research will be led by Professor Johan Neyts of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Rega Institute at K.U. Leuven. The Rega Institute specialises particularly in antiviral research. Medications discovered at the Institute are currently successfully administered for the treatment of, for example, AIDS, viral hepatitis and infections related to herpes viruses.
CD3, directed by Dr Patrick Chaltin, specialises in the discovery of new medications, always in cooperation with academic research groups or small biotech companies. CD3 was founded by K.U. Leuven Research and Development (LRD) in 2006, in partnership with the European Investment Fund. In the past three years, CD3 has established and contributed to approximately 20 projects searching for molecules that may constitute the foundation for new therapies for various diseases, such as AIDS, cancer and Alzheimer's. CD3 ensures that fundamental research is converted into usable results that may be licensed by companies.
Image: Female 'Aedes albopictus' mosquito, a vector for various infections, especially dengue fever. Credit: Wellcome Images