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Protecting Our Nation's Health in an Era of Globalization: CDC's Global Infectious Disease Strategy
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Objectives for Priority Area 3
Strengthen Overseas Research Collaborations by Establishing IEIPs
  • Establish an inventory of existing and potential sites for long-term, on-site research collaborations to address infectious disease problems of regional importance. The inventory should evaluate:
    • How the site might fill geographical and disease-specific research gaps
    • The site’s potential as a center for research training
    • Opportunities to engage multiple partners, including incountry partners (e.g., public health agencies and universities) and U.S. agency partners (e.g., NIH and DoD)
    • Opportunities to leverage resources and ensure sustainability
  •  

  • Create International Emerging Infections Programs (IEIPs), using the information from the inventory described above. (See also Priority Area 6.)

Conduct Research on Vectorborne and Zoonotic Diseases

  • Support the development of field-friendly diagnostic tests for the detection of zoonotic and vectorborne disease, as well as new methods for animal and vector control.
  • Support research on the epidemiology, ecology, and pathogenesis of vectorborne and zoonotic diseases of current international concern, including malaria, West Nile fever, dengue fever, Nipah virus encephalitis, rabies, Q fever, leishmaniasis, typhus, plague, and Chagas disease.
  • Search for the animal or insect reservoirs of Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fevers, working through the CDC-based WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers and collaborating with the South African National Institute of Virology and other partners.
  • Investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and the emergence of zoonotic and vectorborne diseases.
  Box 17
  CDC's Role in the Development of Vaccines Against Diseases of Global Importance
  Box 18
  CDC's Role in the Evaluation of Vaccines Against Diseases of Global Importance

Conduct Vaccine Research

  • Encourage and support the development and evaluation of vaccines against diseases of global health importance (Boxes 17 and 18).
  • Support research on ways to decrease the cost of expensive vaccines like conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal vaccines in developing countries (e.g., administering them less frequently or in lower doses).
  • Help define the epidemiology and public health burden (illness, mortality, and cost) of vaccine-preventable diseases in developing countries, and monitor the declining burden of disease associated with widespread vaccination. (See Priority Area 4.)

Conduct Research in Support of Global Initiatives for Disease Control

  • Encourage and support basic research to improve our understanding of the genetics, physiology, and pathogenesis of parasites, bacteria, and viruses that cause illnesses targeted by global initiatives for disease control.
  • Help develop and evaluate
    • Tools and strategies to prevent transmission of TB, malaria, and HIV/AIDS
    • Treatments for drug-resistant cases of TB, malaria, and HIV/AIDS
    • Improved methods for the detection of TB, HIV/AIDS-related opportunistic infections, and early-stage HIV infections
  •  
  • Assess the impact of coinfection with HIV and malaria and with HIV and TB on disease control efforts.

Conduct Research on Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases

  • Evaluate diagnostic strategies for foodborne and waterborne infections that are common in developing countries, but for which current diagnostic procedures are slow, expensive, or difficult.
  • Conduct targeted research studies in sentinel IEIP sites (see Priority Area 6) to determine the sources of, and risk factors for, specific foodborne and waterborne infections so that appropriate prevention measures can be developed.
  • In collaboration with WHO and others, assess the efficacy, safety, and utility of vaccination to prevent selected foodborne and waterborne infections (e.g., typhoid fever) in combination with other prevention strategies. (See also Conduct Vaccine Research.)

Conduct Research on Diseases of Pregnant Women and Newborns

  • Develop point-of-care diagnostic methods suitable for use in prenatal and obstetric healthcare settings in developing countries and provide quality assurance programs for their use.
  • Field test new treatments and prevention measures, such as
    • Drug combinations for the treatment or prophylaxis of malaria in infants and in pregnant women, for use in areas in which chloroquine-resistance is common.
    • Simple and inexpensive regimens for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS that can be administered to mothers and babies during labor and the first week of life.
  •  
  • Explore ways to extend the benefits of intrapartum or neonatal prophylaxis (e.g., for prevention of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C infection) to pregnant women with little or no prenatal care.
  • Explore the effectiveness of perinatal application of topical antimicrobial agents in preventing neonatal sepsis and tetanus.
  • Assess the relationship between particular maternal infections and low birthweight or preterm babies.

Conduct Research on Antimicrobial Resistance

  • Encourage and support the development of drug susceptibility tests and surveillance systems to detect emerging resistance problems.
  • Evaluate the impact of new vaccines (such as the conjugate pneumococcal vaccines) on the control of antimicrobial resistance and infection. (See also Conduct Vaccine Research.)
  • Determine how disease prevention programs that include mass chemotherapeutic treatments can be optimized to minimize potential for the emergence of drug resistance. Examples include the use of praziquantel to prevent schistosomiasis, albendazole to prevent lymphatic filariasis, ivermectin to prevent onchocerchiasis, azithromycin to prevent trachoma, trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole to prevent AIDS-associated opportunistic infections, and nevirapine or zidovudine to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
  • Encourage efforts by WHO and other partners to
    • Evaluate the quality of commercially available antibiotic stocks and determine whether low-potency stocks are hastening the emergence of drug-resistant strains of pneumococci, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Plasmodium spp., Neisseria gonorrhoeae, or other pathogens.
    • Determine whether antibiotics purchased over the counter in developing countries (and often used in subtherapeutic doses) are hastening the emergence of drug resistance.

    FDA supports these efforts.

Conduct Research on Healthcare-Acquired (Nosocomial) Infections

  • Develop methods for identifying nosocomial infections and reducing their transmission in hospitals with limited resources for infection control.
  • Provide technical assistance to hospital staff in assessing risk factors for acquiring
    • Mycobacterium tuberculosis (e.g., transmitted from patients to healthcare workers or to other patients).
    • Nosocomial respiratory and enteric infections (e.g., inadequate barrier nursing practices)
    • Nosocomial bloodborne infections (e.g., re-use of medical devices or surgical equipment)

Conduct Research on Infectious Causes of Chronic Diseases

  • Conduct research on infectious agents of international importance that cause or may cause chronic diseases (e.g., hepatitis B and C viruses and hepatocellular carcinoma, Helicobacter pylori and peptic ulcer disease or gastric carcinoma, Chlamydia pneumoniae and cardiovascular disease, and human papillomaviruses and cervical cancer).

Conduct Research on Sexually Transmitted Diseases

  • Study the contribution of herpes simplex virus type 2 infection and other genital ulcer diseases on HIV transmission, and devise appropriate intervention strategies.
  • Develop more standardized diagnostic reagents and assays for syphilis to enhance the capacity to control neonatal syphilis worldwide.
  • Monitor the development of antimicrobial resistance among strains of Chlamydia trachomatis and devise appropriate alternative treatments.


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Booklet Contents
item Contributors
item Table of Contents
item Preface
item Executive Summary
item Introduction
 
item International Cooperation To Combat Infectious Diseases
item U.S. Investment in Global Public Health
item Protecting the health of U.S. citizens at home and abroad
item Furthering U.S. humanitarian efforts
item Providing economic and diplomatic benefits
item Enhancing security
item CDC's Role in Promoting Global Public Health
item An evolving mission
item Vision for the Future
item Partnerships and Implementation
item Priorities and Objectives
 
item
1. International Outbreak Assistance
item Objectives
item
2. A Global Approach to Disease Surveillance
item Objectives
item
3. Applied Research on Diseases of Global Importance
item Objectives
item
4. Application of Proven Public Health Tools
item Objectives
item
5. Global Initiatives for Disease Control
item Objectives
item
6. Public Health Training and Capacity Building
item Objectives
item List of Boxes
item Acronyms
item Appendix A
item Appendix B
item Appendix C
item Appendix D
item Appendix E
item Acknowledgments
item References

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Date published: 2002

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