SouthEast Asia Encephalitis Project

Summary

Encephalitis, an acute inflammation of the central nervous system associated with neurologic dysfunction is of public health concern worldwide, because of its high mortality and neurological sequelae rates. In Asia where many of the possible etiologies are of major public health concerns (i.e. dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile virus, EV71), acute encephalitis is among the most frequent and severe causes of pediatric hospitalization.

Despite extensive microbiological investigations, no pathogen is identified for a significant proportion of encephalitis patients in both industrialized and developing countries (28-85% of cases remain unconfirmed). Unknown and sometimes new emerging infectious agents may be responsible for cases of currently unknown etiology and an intensive effort to identify and characterize them is to be done. From this perspective, the Southeast Asian region, a particularly significant biodiversity hotspot, is at high risk for new pathogen emergence.

Surveillance and diagnostic capabilities for encephalitis remain poor and still suffer from serious shortcomings in most Southeast Asian countries and beyond. Although the burden of non-infectious encephalitis in this region remains to be ascertained, the best laboratories only identify etiological infective agents in less than half of patients. Systematic data regarding the contribution of these diseases are lacking and to define the burden of these infections, to describe the full clinical spectrum and characteristics of acute central nervous system infections, and to develop diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms to improve patient care.

The proposed project is an ambitious and multidisciplinary research consortium that aims to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with infectious encephalitis in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar) by improving diagnosis and medical care for patients.

The SEAe project specific objectives are:

* To fill-in the biomedical knowledge gaps regarding acute encephalitis syndrome;
* To strengthen hospital laboratories capacities to enhance health by improving diagnosis and care for patients;
* To identify unknown pathogens responsible for encephalitis;
* To provide reliable information and a sustainable regional and sub-regional surveillance network to clinicians and public health stakeholders that will help them to better define prevention policies, vaccination strategy, and build preparedness to emerging infectious risks.

Conditions

• Encephalitis

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

CSF sampling

CSF sampling by lumbar puncture

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Blood sampling

Blood sampling by blood test

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Nasopharyngeal and rectal sampling

Nasopharyngeal and rectal sample by swabbing

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre De Coopération International En Recherche Agronomique Pour Le Développement

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Institut Pasteur, Cambodia

  collaborator OTHER

• Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Vietnam

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Oxford

  collaborator OTHER

• National Health Laboratory, Myanmar

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Institut Pasteur

  lead INDUSTRY

Principal Investigators

• Marc LECUIT, MD, PhD · Institut Pasteur

Eligibility

Min Age

28 Days

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-07-15

Primary Completion

2019-09-30

Completion

2019-12-31

Countries

• Burma
• Cambodia
• Laos
• Vietnam

Study Locations