The proposed research will address a variety of emerging infections that pose a public health threat and help to develop a better understanding of evaluating diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, antimicrobial resistance, and adopting a One Health approach to investigate and limit the impact of infections spanning the human?animal interface, including those with epidemic or pandemic potential. The research studies will leverage existing and develop new hospital and community based surveillance platforms, including human and animal cohorts. We will use laboratory and field based methods to characterize the epidemiology of emerging infections and develop and test interventions to prevent them in close collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh. Our research team includes physicians, microbiologists, virologist, epidemiologists, veterinarians, sociologists, anthropologists and statisticians.
The specific aims of our research will be to: assess immunogenicity of intramuscular and intradermal IPV derived from Sabine poliovirus strains; identify potential exposures and risk factors associated with rickettsial illness and the economic burden of dengue and chikungunya infections; assess the programmatic feasibility, uptake rate and factors affecting uptake of seasonal influenza vaccination among healthcare workers; identify the risk factors associated with Japanese encephalitis cases; study the natural history and immune responses to norovirus infection in children; feasibility and acceptability of avian influenza (AI) vaccination in commercial chicken; identify the risk factors associated with melioidosis in high-risk groups; identify context-specific indicators with a operational strategy to improve infection control in public hospitals; determine the occurrence of carbapenem and extended- spectrum beta-lactamase resistant bacteria among poultry workers and environmental interface; identify the risk factors associated with H9N2 infection in commercial poultry farms; detect the trend and distribution of common infectious diseases through an mHealth surveillance platform; and identify the determinants and estimate the burden including economic burden of HEV. The findings from these research studies will be disseminated to the stakeholders to ensure integration of key results with development of public health policies and programs in Bangladesh.
(Relevance) Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries, both in terms of human and animal population. Close living arrangements with animals and poultry, poverty, lack of regulations, poor infection control hygiene practices and inadequate resources, exacerbates the risk of emerging infections, making the country a hotspot for the emergence of a number of infectious diseases, including those with epidemic or pandemic potential. Our research focuses on detection and response, building on our existing partnerships and surveillance capabilities and aims to provide important data for prioritizing emerging infections for public health intervention in Bangladesh. The proposed projects address important public health problems of Bangladesh, which will provide clinicians and policy makers with data to make public health decisions. Our surveillances support International Health Regulations (IHR), Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), global health security and global surveillances. The integration of human, veterinary, and environmental sectors, as proposed by the `One Health' approach, in our research is expected to result in earlier warning of emerging infectious diseases and provide us with a better opportunity to respond to potential spill-over threats.
