Clinical Characterisation Protocol for Severe Emerging Infections

Infectious disease is the single biggest cause of death worldwide. New infectious agents, such as the SARS, MERS and other novel coronavirus, novel influenza viruses, viruses causing viral haemorrhagic fever (e.g. Ebola), and viruses that affect the central nervous system (CNS) such as TBEV & Nipah require investigation to understand pathogen biology and pathogenesis in the host. Even for known infections, resistance to antimicrobial therapies is widespread, and treatments to control potentially deleterious host responses are lacking. In order to develop a mechanistic understanding of disease processes, such that risk factors for severe illness can be identified and treatments can be developed, it is necessary to understand pathogen characteristics associated with virulence, the replication dynamics and in-host evolution of the pathogen, the dynamics of the host response, the pharmacology of antimicrobial or host-directed therapies, the transmission dynamics, and factors underlying individual susceptibility. The work proposed here may require sampling that will not immediately benefit the participants. It may also require analysis of the host genome, which may reveal other information about disease susceptibility or other aspects of health status.

传染病是全球范围内最主要的致死病因。新型病原体，如严重急性呼吸综合征（Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS）、中东呼吸综合征（Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS）及其他新型冠状病毒、新型流感病毒、引发病毒性出血热的病毒（如埃博拉病毒（Ebola Virus）），以及侵袭中枢神经系统（Central Nervous System, CNS）的蜱传脑炎病毒（Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus, TBEV）与尼帕病毒（Nipah Virus），亟需开展研究以解析其生物学特性及在宿主体内的致病机制。
即便对于已被认知的感染性疾病，抗菌治疗耐药性也已广泛蔓延，同时仍缺乏能够调控宿主潜在有害免疫应答的治疗手段。
为从机制层面阐明疾病进程，进而识别重症疾病的风险因素并开发针对性治疗方案，我们需要解析与病原体毒力相关的特性、病原体的复制动态与宿主体内演化过程、宿主应答动态、抗菌治疗或宿主靶向治疗的药理学特征、病原体传播动态，以及个体易感性的潜在影响因素。
本研究拟开展的工作可能涉及无法使参与者即刻获益的样本采集，同时还可能需要对宿主基因组进行分析，此类分析或可揭示与疾病易感性相关的其他信息，或暴露受试者健康状况的其他方面。