The Eijkman-Oxford Clinical Research Unit (EOCRU) opened in 2008 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology (EIMB) and the University of Oxford, expressing the will to conduct collaborative research on infectious diseases impacting the health of Indonesians and residents of other Southeast Asian nations. EOCRU is embedded within EIMB, effectively functioning as part of the institute, sharing with its host their sophisticated technical resources and laboratories. EOCRU has conducted collaborative research with EIMB and other partners on the epidemiology of severe vivax malaria, clinical trials of primaquine in preventing relapses of vivax malaria, diagnosis of G6PD deficiency, field trials of spatial repellents in diminishing human contact with malaria-bearing anopheline mosquitoes, viral and parasitic infections of non-human primates relevant to human health, a clinical trial of oseltamivir treatment of avian and human influenza in hospitalized patients, and clinical descriptions of patients hospitalized with avian influenza.

On the 1st of March, 2012, the ‘Atlas of Human Infectious Diseases’ (Wiley-Blackwell, UK) was released. An international project that was coordinatd by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Hanoi (Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Program). The Atlas is edited by Dr. Heiman F.L. Wertheim (Oxford University, UK and Vietnam), Dr. Peter Horby (Oxford University, UK and Singapore) and Dr. John Woodall (ProMED-mail, Brasil). The Atlas is available both in print and digital. A website with updates is expected at the end of 2012.

This is the first Atlas with a complete and up-to-date overview of the distribution of major infectious diseases and the underlying determinants that explain the distribution. The Atlas contains over 140 maps and fact sheets that illustrate the spread of major infectious disease and place it in a global perspective.

Infectious diseases remain a major global public health threat, particularly due to the rise in antibiotic resistant pathogens and the speed in which pathogens can spread due to globalization. Furthermore, changes in for instance climate or land use make new areas suitable for certain pathogens. With the help of this atlas, important insights in key driving factors of infectious diseases can be obtained.

This project was co-funded by the Infectious Disease Research Foundation and the Continuendo MusartE Foundation (both The Netherlands).

Foreword ‘Atlas of Human Infectious Diseases’

By Dr. Mary Wilson, Adjunct Associate Professor of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, USA, and author of the book ’A World Guide to Infections: Diseases, Distribution, Diagnosis’ (New York: Oxford University Press).

Maps have magical properties. They convert all kinds of data into colors, shades, shapes, and figures, and display them in a spatial framework. Map-making involves planting data on drawings of contours of land masses or representations of geographic regions. Maps are an ancient and common form of communication. Maps enable us to see where we are and identify many attributes of people, places – really any characteristic of the biosphere - by geographic location. Maps can convey large volumes of information, tell stories, and help to answer questions. Here we have an atlas, a collection of maps. As someone with in inordinate fondness for maps, I take great pleasure in this book.

The topic of the spatial distribution of diseases – and how and why this changes – has been one of endless fascination for me. Thus it was a joy for me to be contacted by someone else who also has a passion for this topic – for “understanding the special preferences of infectious agents for specific niches and hosts”. Even better, Heiman Wertheim, who has led this project, has had the energy, creativity, and vision to pull together a book that assembles material that is essential for trying to make sense of the patchwork of infectious diseases globally. It is not an easy task to do even the first part – to create maps showing where diseases exist – or rather, where they have been reported in the past. Most maps showing disease distributions found in textbooks are old, based on incomplete data, and often out-of-date by the time they are printed. Disease distribution is dynamic because of the inherent properties of life and its interaction with the abiotic environment, and it is difficult to provide maps that accurately capture the current situation.

Oxford University News Release

http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/120203.html

Tuberculosis patients may receive treatments in the future according to what version they have of a single ‘Goldilocks’ gene, says an international research team from Oxford University, King’s College London, Vietnam and the USA.

This is one of the first examples in infectious disease of where an individual’s genetic profile can determine which drug will work best for them – the idea of personalised medicine that is gradually becoming familiar in cancer medicine.

The scientists found that people generate an immune response to tuberculosis that is ‘too much’, ‘too little’ or ‘just right’, according to what versions they have of the LTA4H gene.

The findings indicate that patients are likely to benefit from different drug treatments depending on their LTA4H gene profile.

Furthermore, the researchers show that steroids used as part of the standard treatment for the most severe form of tuberculosis, TB meningitis, only benefit some patients.

The results of the study, part-funded by the Wellcome Trust, are published in the journal Cell.(Tobin D et al, Cell 148, 434–446, February 3, 2012).