Global research priorities for infections that affect the nervous system

Chandy C. John (), Hélène Carabin, Silvia M. Montano, Paul Bangirana, Joseph R. Zunt and Phillip K. Peterson
Additional contact information
Chandy C. John: Ryan White Center for Pediatric Infectious Disease and Global Health, Indiana University School of Medicine
Hélène Carabin: College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Silvia M. Montano: US Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6
Paul Bangirana: Makerere University College of Health Sciences
Joseph R. Zunt: University of Washington
Phillip K. Peterson: University of Minnesota

Nature, 2015, vol. 527, issue 7578, S178-S186

Abstract: Abstract Infections that cause significant nervous system morbidity globally include viral (for example, HIV, rabies, Japanese encephalitis virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, dengue virus and chikungunya virus), bacterial (for example, tuberculosis, syphilis, bacterial meningitis and sepsis), fungal (for example, cryptococcal meningitis) and parasitic (for example, malaria, neurocysticercosis, neuroschistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths) infections. The neurological, cognitive, behavioural or mental health problems caused by the infections probably affect millions of children and adults in low- and middle-income countries. However, precise estimates of morbidity are lacking for most infections, and there is limited information on the pathogenesis of nervous system injury in these infections. Key research priorities for infection-related nervous system morbidity include accurate estimates of disease burden; point-of-care assays for infection diagnosis; improved tools for the assessment of neurological, cognitive and mental health impairment; vaccines and other interventions for preventing infections; improved understanding of the pathogenesis of nervous system disease in these infections; more effective methods to treat and prevent nervous system sequelae; operations research to implement known effective interventions; and improved methods of rehabilitation. Research in these areas, accompanied by efforts to implement promising technologies and therapies, could substantially decrease the morbidity and mortality of infections affecting the nervous system in low- and middle-income countries. This article has not been written or reviewed by Nature editors. Nature accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16033 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:527:y:2015:i:7578:d:10.1038_nature16033

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature16033

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().