Poorva Chavan
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Written By: Poorva Chavan | Updated : September 10, 2015 12:02 PM IST
With over 1259 cases of dengue reported from the national capital from January till September 5 this news comes as a relief. Dengue fever is very common in India and claims many lives every year. However, there is no specific treatment or preventive vaccine against the disease. But scientists at the University of Queensland have discovered a vaccine for its treatment and clinical trials for the same will begin in a year. Read aboutcan papaya leaves help cure dengue?
The scientists explain that they had identified similarities in how the body reacts to dengue virus and bacterial infections and they would be able to re-purpose existing drugs to treat dengue. Professor Paul Young noted that they have discovered that the dengue virus NS1 protein acts as a toxin in the body, in a similar manner to the way bacterial cell wall products lead to septic shock in bacterial infections. (Read: 11 symptoms of dengue you should know about)
Young added that for the past 20 to 30 years, researchers and pharmaceutical companies have been developing drug candidates to inhibit the body's damaging responses to these bacterial infections. So, drugs are already available that have gone through phase three clinical trials. Dengue virus is estimated to infect up to 400 million people globally each year. The World Health Organisation ranks it as the most important mosquito-borne viral disease in the world. (Read: 7 complications of dengue that you ought to know)
Given increased international travel and the prospect of climate change extending the range of the dengue mosquito, more people will be at risk, he said. Researcher Naphak Modhiran said that she hopes their discoveries in the lab will translate to the patient bedside and eventually help those who suffer from dengue infection around the world. The study is published in Science Translational Medicine. (Read: Mobile phone records to predict spread of dengue virus)
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