In February 12, 2015, CNPRC Affiliate Scientists Drs. Koen Van Rompay, Peter Beernink, and Dan Granoff announced important findings from a pilot project study conducted at the CNPRC on improving the effectiveness of the meningococcal vaccine for prevention of sepsis and meningitis caused by meningococci group B, a rare, and sometimes deadly, bacterial infection which accounts for one-third of the meningococcal meningitis cases in the U.S.
High rates of non-vaccinated children throughout the US have reached critical numbers of vulnerable individuals, resulting in perfect conditions for a wildfire storm of measles infections, an easily preventable yet highly contagious disease. More than 120 confirmed cases of measles have been reported in 17 states and the District of Columbia in the most recent outbreak that started in December 2014 when at least 40 people who visited or worked at the California Disneyland theme park contracted measles.
What is potentially exciting about this research is the demonstration that the early stages of gut inflammation and damage can be intervened by the targeted probiotic bacteria.
The mucosal lining of the human gastrointestinal tract is on the frontline of immune defenses, crucial in preventing infection and controlling the spread of intestinal pathogens. It must respond rapidly to eradicate pathogens, while simultaneously maintaining tolerance to commensal bacteria.
In a study published in Science Translational Medicine on September 3, 2014, researchers from the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) at UC Davis and from UC San Francisco have shown that breast-and bottle-fed infant rhesus macaques develop different immune systems. Although the researchers expected that different diets would promote different intestinal bacteria, they were surprised at the extent to which these bacteria were found to shape immunologic development.
The recent deadly outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa has highlighted the key role of nonhuman primate biomedical research in developing critically needed treatments and vaccines for emerging infectious diseases. Scientists around the world have pursued different strategies for development of a preventative vaccine and an effective treatment for Ebola virus disease.
