 A girl is treated for suspected cholera infection at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. There were more than 1 million cases of cholera in the country between April 2017 and April 2018. Hani Mohammed/AP At year's end, global health numbers offer reason for both hope and despair.
There is one strong positive note. An overriding public health finding is that people are living longer. "If that's not a bottom line reason for optimism," says Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, "I don't know what is." And then there are the million-plus cases of cholera in Yemen — deemed "a hideous milestone for the 21st century" by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Note: Because of the way global numbers are gathered, it's too soon to report on health statistics from the year now drawing to a close. There are only a few yet available for 2018 — polio cases, for example, and Ebola deaths in Democratic Republic of the Congo. But there has been a constant stream of numbers released from the years just past. Unless otherwise noted, the numbers below represent the worldwide population.
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Dear colleagues and friends, We are pleased to announce that the 5th ReSViNET Foundation Conference “RSVVW 2019”, a global conference on novel RSV therapeutics. It will be held on 12-14 November 2019, in the beautiful capital city of Ghana, Accra, at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel. Ghana is one of the most peaceful countries in Africa and a tourism hub for the continent. Accra is a city full of life and excitement with a prodigious history, monuments, cultural diversity, arts and crafts, and more. The main goal of this conference is to offer a platform where the RSV community can share and discuss the latest research focusing on prevention as well as treatment of RSV infection. We aim to bring together stakeholders involved in RSV research such as scientists, physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and representatives from FDA, PATH, WHO, EMA, NIH, and BMGF. Researchers and physicians from around the world are invited to join the discussion and share their knowledge. Specifically, scientists and physicians from low- and middle-income countries and young researchers are encouraged to attend, and may apply to receive support. This meeting is a great forum to discuss opportunities for future international collaboration and achievements in our field. A diverse program is being developed by the Scientific Advisory Committee which will include: burden of RSV disease and mortality, molecular virology, immunology, prevention and treatment developments, global health perspectives and RSV-related sequelae. We anticipate an exciting scientific event that will expand our knowledge of RSV. For more details and latest updates regarding the conference please visit our website (www.resvinet.org). If you have any questions about the conference, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], or [email protected] Registration will be open in April 2019”. More information will follow. We look forward to your participation to make this event a success!  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched a clinical trial of an investigational vaccine designed to protect against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The Phase 1 study will enroll a small group of healthy adult volunteers to examine the safety of an experimental intranasal vaccine and its ability to induce an immune response. The study is being conducted at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, one of the NIAID-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs). Read more here. 
ZEIST, THE NETHERLANDS, 15 May 2018 – Today, we proudly announce the official launch of the ReSViNET Foundation as a registered not-for-profit entity under Dutch law. After 4 years of building and shaping the network and months of preparation, the ReSViNET Foundation has officially been founded.
So far, the network has been part of Julius Clinical and we express deep gratitude towards Julius Clinical that supported the initial effort to set up the network from the beginning. Without their active support, ReSViNET would not exist as it does today. As a foundation ReSViNET is now a financially and otherwise independent regulated entity which represents a major milestone for the entire ReSViNET project. Since the inception of ReSViNET network in 2014, we have continuously been working to fulfil our Vision and Mission: to decrease the global burden of RSV infection through the advancement of research; providing scientific input; involvement in clinical trials; and organising conferences and offering platforms to share the latest developments and reports on groundbreaking studies and in this way helping to move the field forward. We are exceptionally proud to be the first official Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) foundation and aim to foster global collaboration among researchers, the health sector, governments, international statutory bodies, non-profit organisations and the wider civil society in an effort to coordinate actions and raise awareness about RSV infection and to tackle the challenge of RSV infection prevention and treatment. RSV acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) is one of our most significant global healthcare challenges, not only in infants, but also in older adults and no vaccine is licensed for prevention. It is already affecting 33.1 million children under 5 years worldwide. We have a lot to share so far – we have published influential scientific papers, we have designed and/or participated in various clinical trials, we were on the basis of the formation of RSV Consortium in Europe (RESCEU), have developed the mobile application ReSViNET Scale App for parents and organised successful conferences for all stakeholders involved in RSV field. As the ReSViNET Foundation is now standing on solid legal pillars, this milestone represents a vital growth spurt in the ReSViNET project’s maturity. From the start of ReSViNET's inception, we wanted this to be a valuable platform for all RSV community members and believe in the vision, the growth and success of this enterprise. The ReSViNET foundation will keep working hard towards its Mission and Vision as we have done until now. We assure and maintain transparency in our relationships within the foundation and with our partners and collaborators. It will take a concerted global effort to tackle RSV and we are looking forward to continue and advance our collaborations and partnerships with global leaders, WHO, BMGF, RSV society (ISIRV), PATH, EMA, FDA, pharmaceutical companies, patients and other parties within the RSV community to stimulate development of new therapeutics. The foundation is thankful to all its partners without whom we would not have reached this milestone. Yours sincerely, Louis J. Bont, chair and expert board member Aize J. Smink, treasurer/deputy chair Leyla Kragten-Tabatabaie, secretary Ruben J. Geerdink, MSc; Marije P. Hennus, PhD, MD; Geertje H. A. Westerlaken, BSc; Alferso C. Abrahams, MD; Kim I. Albers, MD; Jona Walk, MD; Esther Wesselink, MD; Riny Janssen, PhD; Louis Bont, PhD, MD; Linde Meyaard, PhD
How to hold neutrophils in check During RSV bronchiolitis neutrophils are the most abundant immune cells in the lung. Neutrophils are known to produce neutrophil extra cellular traps (NETs) which can induce injury to epithelial cells and hence contribute to disease severity. Neutrophils express several inhibitory receptors including LAIR-1. Whether targeting this receptor could diminish NET release is the question Geerdink and colleagues answer in their article. Their study demonstrates that sputum neutrophils from the lungs of RSV infected patients are highly activated and show increased LAIR-1 expression compared to blood derived neutrophils. More strikingly; targeting LAIR-1 with antibodies inhibited NET formation by 50%. This finding offers an innovative strategy that, together with newly developed antiviral, could contribute to the treatment of RSV bronchiolitis. To read the full article click here. |
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