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Objectives
for Priority Area 3 |
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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 sites 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.
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.
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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