Conference Overview
Dengue virus is the most significant arthropod-borne viral disease in the world, causing globally 50-100 million cases of dengue fever per year and tens of thousands of deaths, primarily in children. The four types of dengue virus, which historically have affected selected tropical and subtropical regions, have been spreading to new geographical areas and thus have become a serious public health treat worldwide. No vaccines or drugs are currently available to treat or prevent dengue infection. Several private companies, government laboratories and academic institutions have been working on the development of dengue vaccines and therapeutics for decades, but there are significant obstacles to success in this area. One the main obstacles has been the lack of good animal models to understand the pathogenesis of this disease and to evaluate drugs and vaccines before they are tested in humans. A dengue animal model that recapitulates the human disease would help evaluate vaccines and therapeutics for safety and efficacy before they are tested in the clinic.
The objective of this workshop is to provide a forum for dengue virus researchers from academia, government and industry to review the dengue animal models currently available, identify the scientific questions that different animal models should help address and come up with recommendations on the animal models that should be further defined or developed and a strategy to pursue these models.
|