The Manipal Centre for Virus Research, a constituent of Manipal University, is all set to expand its surveillance of acute febrile illness to 10 more States from Karnataka and Kerala. This is being facilitated by the support of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention which has awarded a cooperative agreement grant to the varsity.
According to a press release issued by the university here on Monday, those States are Goa, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Jharkhand, Guajarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Initially, the programme was launched in the two States in September 2013 with technical assistance from the organisation’s global disease detection regional centre in India.
The project was designed to establish specific causes of the disease and offer insights on possible data-driven interventions to reduce illness and mortality.
Disease pattern
Goals included studying disease pattern and clinical features, strengthening lab surveillance, and exploring the specific burden of diseases transmitted to humans from animals.
Through the project in Karnataka and Kerala, previously undiagnosed fever pathogens such as influenza, leptospirosis, scrub typhus, dengue, malaria, and Kyasanur Forest Disease have been identified. Early detection and diagnosis has allowed physicians to treat patients with the appropriate medication and or clinical management, providing early recovery.
Encouraged by the initial data from the four sites in Karnataka and Kerala, and prompted by the needs of neighbouring districts and States, G. Arunkumar, Professor and Head, Manipal Centre for Virus Research (MCVR), came up with an expansion of the programme for 2015-2016.
The centre awarded the cooperative agreement as part of the greater global health security agenda initiative, which focusses on strengthening public health infrastructure in India and across the world to ensure rapid detection of and response to emerging global health threats.
