ARCHIVED - Your Health Research Dollars at Work 2005-2006

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Infectious Diseases

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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. Through CIHR, the Government of Canada invested approximately $167.1 million in 2005-06 across Canada in research on infectious diseases.

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The Facts

• There were 207 confirmed cases of avian influenza in humans between January 28, 2004 and May 8, 2006, as the infection spread to locations such as Turkey and Egypt. Of the 207 cases, 115 resulted in deaths. Most cases are the result of bird-to-human infection; however, human-to-human transmission has been suggested in at least one case. The virus's ability to turn into a pandemic is being closely monitored.
• A flu pandemic could infect 15-35% of the Canadian population, causing up to 50,000 deaths, according to estimates by the Public Health Agency of Canada. A vaccine or antiviral drugs would reduce both illness and deaths.
• The first recorded outbreak of West Nile virus in North America happened in New York City in 1999. The first reports of the virus in Canada came in August 2001 and the first confirmed human cases in 2002. West Nile virus has been found across Canada. It usually causes no symptoms or mild flu-like symptoms. It can, however, cause serious illness requiring hospitalization and, in some cases, death.
• Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle has been linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. Despite three cases of BSE in Canada, there have been no cases of vCJD here to date. The disease is one of a small group of fatal diseases called prion diseases, in which infectious agents called prions (or misfolded proteins) attack the brain, killing cells and creating gaps in tissue.
• Between 1995 and 2003, rates of multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Canadian hospitals increased from about 0.5 cases per 1,000 admissions to 5 per 1,000 admissions. MRSA is making many antibiotics obsolete and is a threat to our ability to control bacterial infection.

Research Finding Solutions to Infectious Diseases

• Drs. Heinz Feldmann (University of Manitoba) and Steven Jones (B.C. Cancer Research Agency), two researchers funded by CIHR in collaboration with international colleagues, have developed vaccines that have shown tremendous promise in providing protection against Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses in monkeys. The next step is to test the vaccines on humans to see if they stimulate a similarly strong immune response. This research could translate into effective treatment for humans - and spell relief for healthcare workers on the frontline fighting these infectious diseases.

• Years after the outbreak of stomach infections and deaths caused by an E. coli-infected water supply in Walkerton, Ontario, the effects of the outbreak are still being felt. A study of almost 2,000 area residents found that 27% of those who had no symptoms at the time of the outbreak have since been diagnosed with hypertension. This figure climbs to 35% among people who had severe symptoms of gastroenteritis. Roughly the same percentage of respondents also suffered from reduced kidney function. CIHR-supported researcher Dr. Amit Garg of the London Health Sciences Centre is the principal author of the study.

• According to research by CIHR-funded Dr. Gerard Wright of McMaster University, microbes found in soil have incredible resistance to antibiotic drugs. Dr. Wright collected 480 samples and found that each and every one was resistant to at least seven or eight antimicrobial agents. The study raises concern that such resistance mechanisms can be and are being transferred to existing bacterial pathogens affecting humans, creating superbugs resistant to new antibiotics.

• A research team from the University of Saskatchewan has developed a possible vaccine for hepatitis C, an illness that affects some 170 million people worldwide. The team, led by CIHR-funded researcher Dr. Sylvia van den Hurk, demonstrated that, by harvesting certain immune cells from mice, exposing them to one of the proteins in the virus that causes hepatitis C and then putting them back into the body, these cells were able to "teach" other immune cells to create an immune response. The vaccine is also unique because it helps reduce the amount of virus in people already infected and, in doing so, helps spare severe damage to the liver caused by the virus.

• A team led by CIHR-funded researcher Dr. Natalie Strynadka of the University of British Columbia has, for the first time, been able to describe the exact structure of a multi-protein "machine" responsible for making many bacterial pathogens dangerous. This machine allows such pathogens to "inject" bacterial proteins into human cells. By better understanding its structure, researchers can hope to design new drugs to prevent harmful proteins from entering human cells.

In the Pipeline...
Safer Water Supplies

Dr. Marie Louie from Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre is leading a project investigating just how many of the bacteria in the water supply are resistant to antibiotics as a result of widespread use of such agents in agriculture and livestock farming. Preliminary data from testing of private and recreational water sources in Alberta and southern Ontario indicate that such bacteria are indeed present. The next step is to merge this data with other information about land use as well as soil types and geology. Eventually, using such information, public health officials will be able to identify and focus on the areas that have a high risk of well-water contamination with antibiotic-resistant E. coli.

The Researchers...
Dr. Fiona Brinkman - Looking for Answers in a Sea of Bacteria

Humans think of themselves as masters in their own house but, according to Dr. Fiona Brinkman at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, this perception may not be 100% accurate.

As it turns out, humans have a kind of joint occupancy agreement with bacteria; although much smaller in size, bacterial cells outnumber human cells in the order of ten to one.

"This is not at all bad. The presence of this flora really helps," Dr. Brinkman says. Such bacteria play an important role in digesting food and stimulating our immune system. They literally take up space that, left unoccupied, could be "colonized" by more harmful forms of bacteria, known as pathogens. With this in mind, she is particularly concerned about the use of antibiotics, which, in killing the harmful bugs, also wipes out large numbers of "good" bacteria.

"In the best case scenario, we would like to target pathogens more specifically - preferably destroying their toxins and other factors that specifically cause disease, putting pressure on them to convert into non-pathogens," she observes.

Her lab is studying the best ways to do this. For Dr. Brinkman, this involves improving our understanding of how bacteria evolve and when they cross the line from harmless to pathogenic. Part of the answer lies in the concept of "genomic islands" - as bacteria evolve and mutate, they can acquire genetic traits from other bacteria and bacterial "viruses". Horizontal transfer is often the source of genes that make a bacterium more virulent.

With CIHR funding, Dr. Brinkman is building improved computer software tools to analyze these islands and identify the genes causing virulence. Dr. Brinkman is enthusiastic that, with more accurate analysis of bacteria, new therapies are within reach.

"We know the genetic sequence of over 300 different bacteria. There are great discoveries just sitting there in the DNA," she concludes.

The CIHR Institute

CIHR's Institute of Infection and Immunity supports research and helps to build research capacity in the areas of infectious disease and the body's immune system. Through the Institute's programs, researchers address a wide range of health concerns related to infection and immunity including disease mechanisms, disease prevention and treatment, and health promotion through public policy.

About CIHR

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian healthcare system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
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http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/