Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

Einstein-Led Research Consortium Awarded Five-Year Grant for $14 M per Year BRONX, N.Y., Sept. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received a five-year, $14 million per year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to participate in a broad national effort to develop "plug-and-play" vaccines and antibody-based therapies against a wide range of emerging viruses. The grant is part of NIAID's new Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness (ReVAMPP) Network, which was announced earlier today. Continue Reading Kartik Chandran, Ph.D. "COVID-19 taught us a lot about pandemic preparedness, and we want to make sure we build on what worked well," said Kartik Chandran, Ph.D., the principal investigator on the grant and professor of microbiology & immunology, the Gertrude and David Feinson Chair in Medicine, and the Harold and Muriel Block Faculty Scholar in Virology at Einstein. "One of the key lessons from the COVID pandemic is that having existing research on a viral family allows scientists to develop vaccines and therapeutics for a particular virus much more quickly. In our project, we plan to create a base of critical knowledge about groups of similar viruses and then—should a related "virus X" pose a health threat—develop specific countermeasures as quickly as possible to save as many lives as possible." The Einstein-led consortium, called PROVIDENT (Prepositioning Optimized Strategies for Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics Against Diverse Emerging Infectious Threats), will link 13 teams in academia, government, and industry that will conduct four projects designed to: Discover and analyze virus-host interactions and the molecular mechanisms involved in viral disease; Design proteins to elicit antiviral immune responses and then evaluate and optimize those responses; Create "road maps" for quickly developing RNA vaccines against microbes with pandemic potential; and Map the antibody responses observed in people infected with viruses and use this knowledge to design vaccines and therapeutics. PROVIDENT builds on NIAID's 2021 Pandemic Preparedness Plan, a sweeping federal program designed to address the uncertainties inherent in safeguarding global health from communicable diseases. The two-part plan focuses on "priority pathogens" and "prototype pathogens"—basically, the knowns and unknowns of the viral world. Priority pathogens include viruses that are known to cause significant human illness or death, such as dengue virus and Ebola virus. Prototype pathogens—the focus of PROVIDENT—are representative viruses in families that have the potential to cause significant human disease. "We plan to select and study one or two prototype viruses from each family and then develop countermeasures that will work against as many viruses within that family as possible," said Dr. Chandran. "That strategy of quickly responding to an emerging virus with an approach and tools that have already been developed is what we mean by 'plug and play'." A part of PROVIDENT's strategy will be to carry out "sprints" in which countermeasures that are developed for the prototype pathogens will be tested against other viruses in the same family to see how well they work and to improve them. PROVIDENT will concentrate on three virus families: nairoviruses, transmitted by ticks (e.g., Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus), hantaviruses, borne by rodents and other small mammals (e.g., Sin Nombre virus and other agents causing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome), and paramyxoviruses, borne by bats and other mammals, including domesticated animals (e.g., Nipah virus). "This approach allowed researchers to move quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr. Chandran. "What we had learned from previous outbreaks caused by coronaviruses, including SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] in 2002 and MERS [Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome] a decade later, helped us create diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19." "Recent outbreaks of mpox, Nipah virus, and Eastern equine encephalitis, among other viral infections, underscore the need for an even broader preparedness program," said Eva Mittler, Ph.D., research assistant professor at Einstein and leader of one of the PROVIDENT components. "We don't know what virus will cause the next pandemic." "The overarching goal of PROVIDENT and the other centers in the ReVAMPP Network is to coordinate their efforts to increase our odds of mounting a timely and effective response," added Dr. Chandran. Projects and cores in PROVIDENT will be led by: Kartik Chandran, PhD., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY Eva Mittler, Ph.D., Einstein Jason McLellan, Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin, TX Courtney Cohen, Ph.D., U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD (USAMRIID) John Cooke, M.D., Ph.D., Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX (HMRI) Eva Harris, Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA Stephanie Monticelli, Ph.D., USAMRIID Steven Bradfute, Ph.D., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM Andrew Herbert, Ph.D., USAMRIID Jesse Erasmus, Ph.D., HDT Bio, Seattle, WA Jimmy Gollihar, Ph.D., HMRI The following scientists and institutions will also play critical roles in PROVIDENT: Zachary Bornholdt, PhD., Eitr Biologics, Inc., San Diego, CA Daniel Boutz, Ph.D., HMRI Giorgi Chakhunashvili, Ph.D., National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, Tbilisi, Georgia Catalina Florez, Ph.D., USAMRIID Bronwyn Gunn, Ph.D., Washington State University, Pullman, WA Andrew Horton, Ph.D., HMRI Amit Khandhar, Ph.D., HDT Bio Taishi Kimura, PhD., HDT Bio Jonathan Lai, Ph.D., Einstein Jodi McGill, Ph.D., Iowa State University, Ames, IA Crystal Moyer, Ph.D., Eitr Biologics Thomas Segall-Shapiro, Ph.D., HMRI Simone Sidoli, Ph.D., Einstein E. Taylor Stone, PhD., HDT Bio Francesca Taraballi, Ph.D., HMRI Cecilia Vial, Ph.D., Universidad del Desarollo, Santiago, Chile Pablo Vial, M.D., Universidad del Desarollo Zhongde Wang, Ph.D., Utah State University, Logan, UT Details of the PROVIDENT grant (1U19AI181977-01) issued by NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health, can be found here. About Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2023-24 academic year, Einstein is home to 737 M.D. students, 209 Ph.D. students, 124 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and approximately 239 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 2,000 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2023, Einstein received more than $192 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health. This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in cancer, aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. For more information, please visit einsteinmed.edu, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and view us on YouTube. SOURCE Albert Einstein College of Medicine WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

WEDNESDAY, July 24, 2024 -- Arizona health officials are reporting an increase in hantavirus infections, which are spread by rodents and can cause severe respiratory illness. In a recent health alert , the Arizona Department of Health Services announced there have been seven confirmed cases and three deaths in that state in the past six months. While most hantavirus cases are reported in the Western and Southwestern United States, Arizona has one of highest numbers of reported infections in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2016-2022, there have been 11 hantavirus cases in Arizona , according to state health officials. “Hantavirus is a rare but important cause of serious, even fatal respiratory infection,” Dr. Aaron Glatt , chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in New York, told NBC News . “It is transmitted by various rodents, especially the deer mouse, and can cause mild disease, but it does cause fatal illness in a significant percentage of people who acquire this illness," he noted. Between 1993 and 2021, the CDC has reported a total of 850 hantavirus cases, or roughly 30 cases a year. Trish Lees, public information officer at Coconino County Health and Human Services in Arizona, told NBC News that the increase in hantavirus cases may be due to shifts in rodent populations. However, cases do tend to occur more in the summer because of increased rodent activity and people coming into contact with rodents more often, Lees explained. Climate change, such as the extreme heat waves that have been sweeping across the county this summer, may also be partly to blame, experts theorized. Dr. Camilo Mora , a professor in the department of geography and environment at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, noted that people aren’t the only ones who seek shelter when it gets really wet or hot outside. “Many carrying-disease species get on the move with climate change -- so while for any specific case it is difficult to conclude the role of climate change, climate change has all the attributes to cause outbreaks of vector-borne diseases,” he told NBC News . The hot weather may have also worsened the illnesses after people were infected because of dehydration or other factors, Glatt added. Exactly how does hantavirus spread? Particles containing the virus get into the air when urine, saliva or poop from deer mice are stirred up. Once a person is infected, the virus can trigger hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) . The syndrome was first recognized in 1993 after a mysterious illness infected members of a Navajo tribe who lived on the border of New Mexico and Arizona. Approximately 80% of people who were infected died at the time. Symptoms can appear one to eight weeks after exposure and include: Left untreated, the illness can infect the lungs and cause fluid to “leak” through blood vessels and fill up the respiratory tract. That, in turn, causes shortness of breath, chest tightness and cough, according to the American Lung Association . Approximately 38% of people who develop lung symptoms may die from the disease. What can be done to guard against infection? “The best way to prevent infection with this illness is by carefully disinfecting and cleaning up any waste products from the rodents and by not coming into contact with them,” Glatt said. When entering a place that’s been closed up for a long time, take care to air out the space for 30 minutes, the Wyoming Department of Health warns. If the space is very dirty or full of mice, take extra care by wearing gloves, shoe covers, coveralls and N95 masks before cleaning. Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

PharmaJet released positive interim results from the U.S. Army’s Phase I clinical trial of two hantavirus vaccines to prevent hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). PharmaJet , headquartered in Golden, Colorado, released positive interim results from the U.S. Army’s Phase I clinical trial of two hantavirus vaccines to prevent hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). The trial was conducted by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). PharmaJet’s Stratis needle-free injection system was used. PharmaJet focuses on marketing its needle-free devices for vaccine delivery. The PharmaJet Stratis received U.S. FDA 510(k) marketing clearance, CE Mark and WHO PQS certification to deliver medications and vaccines intramuscularly or subcutaneously. In August 2014, it was approved for influenza vaccine delivery. And the PharmaJet Tropis device for intradermal injections received the CE Mark authorization in May 2016. Hanatavirus infection can progress to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), which can be fatal. Individuals who are infected typically do so by contact with rodents or their urine and droppings that have been infected with hantavirus. There are New World hantaviruses, such as the Sin Nombre hantavirus, first recognized in 1993, that circulate in the U.S. Old World hantaviruses, including Seoul virus, are seen around the world and can cause HFRS. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is a cluster of illnesses with clinical similarities that are caused by hantaviruses from the family Bunyaviridae. It includes Korean hemorrhagic fever, epidemic hemorrhagic fever, and nephorpathia epidemica. The known viruses that cause HFRS include Hantaan, Dobrava, Saaremaa, Seoul, and Puumala. They are widely observed in eastern Asia, especially in China, Russia, and Korea, although the Puumala virus is found in Scandinavia, western Europe, and western Russia, and the Dobrava virus is mostly seen in the Balkans. The most severe form of HFRS has a 5 to 15 percent fatality rate and affects tens of thousands of patients annually. No vaccine is currently available. “The interim immunogenicity results in the Phase I trial look promising, and the PharmaJet needle-free device has an excellent safety pro humans,” said Jay Hooper, chief, Molecular Virology Branch, Virology Division, USAMRIID, in a statement. “An added benefit of the needle-free injector is that it eliminates needles completely from the process of administering vaccines, as well as the costs and dangers associated with sharp-needle waste.” Most recently, on February 20, PharmaJet announced a global license agreement with Genexine Co. Ltd. , based in South Korea, to develop and commercialize DNA vaccines using the PharmaJet injection systems. Under the deal, Genexine will use the PharmaJet Stratis and Tropis in their Phase I and IIa clinical trials. There is also a provision for Phase III studies and commercialization as well. Genexine’s product pipeline includes a vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV) type 16 and 18 associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), which can cause cervical cancer. The company also announced on February 6 that it is expanding the Phase IIa clinical trial of an HPV vaccine with Norway’s Vaccibody using the PharmaJet Stratis. The company’s technology is being in used in numerous vaccine clinical trials, including for cancer, Zika Virus, poliovirus, rabies and influenza. “We are pleased with the interim results from the Phase I clinical trial for a hantavirus vaccine that has the potential to save lives,” said Ron Lowy, PharmaJet’s chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement. “Our needle-free devices are continuing to help novel DNA technologies move successfully from preclinical studies into early and late stage clinical trials.”