Pathophysiology, treatment, and epidemiology of Lassa fever in Nigeria

拉沙热是由拉沙病毒引起的人畜共患疾病。这种疾病是西非的地方病。拉沙热出血性病程与高死亡率有关。据估计，由于拉沙病毒从其啮齿动物宿主（Mastomys natalensis）传播给人类，每年发生10万至50万例感染。这一建议的总体目标是在医院、社区和自然宿主等各个层面产生控制非洲拉沙热的知识。结果应转化为实践，并减轻拉沙热在非洲环境中的负担。根据总体目标，该方法是多学科的，涉及病毒学、流行病学、公共卫生、遗传学和动物学。提案中包括所有这些领域的专家，或者作为申请者，或者作为贡献伙伴。这些学科紧密相连，因为所有工作都集中在尼日利亚埃多州的一个共同研究地点。具体目标扩展了正在进行的项目的目标，并以初步结果为基础：了解T细胞在拉沙热病理生理中的作用确定社区中拉沙热的发病率，作为未来疫苗试验的基础。拉沙病毒从啮齿动物向人类传播的危险因素鉴定。了解尼日利亚Mastomys啮齿动物中拉沙病毒的空间、时间和宿主特异性突变模式5。探讨Mastomys啮齿动物免疫遗传学与拉沙病毒感染状况的关系。

Lassa fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Lassa virus. The disease is endemic in West Africa. Hemorrhagic courses of Lassa fever are associated with high mortality. It is estimated that 100,000 to 500,000 infections occur each year as a result of transmission of Lassa virus from its rodent reservoir (Mastomys natalensis) to human. The overall objective of this proposal is the generation of knowledge to control Lassa fever in Africa at various levels: in the hospital, in the community, and the natural reservoir. The results shall be translatable into practice and reduce the burden of Lassa fever in the African environment. According to the overall objective, the approach is multidisciplinary involving virology, epidemiology, public health, genetics, and zoology. Experts in all these fields are included in the proposal either as applicants or as contributing partners. The disciplines are closely linked as all work is focussed on a common study site in Edo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives extend the objectives of the on-going project and are based on the preliminary results:1. Understanding the role of T cells in the pathophysiology of Lassa fever.2. Determination of incidence of Lassa fever in communities as basis for future vaccine trials.3. Identification of risk factors for transmission of Lassa virus from rodent to human.4. Understanding spatial, temporal and host-specific mutation patterns of the Lassa virus in Mastomys rodents within Nigeria5. Exploring the association between immunogenetics in Mastomys rodents and Lassa virus infection Status.