The symposium capped off five years of research under the Program of Founding Research Centers for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases initiated by the MEXT in 2005, and featured talks by leading Japanese and international scientists.
The pressing need for research in the area of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases has been reiterated in recent years with the worldwide spread of the 2009 pandemic influenza and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). “While infectious diseases heed no national borders,” RIKEN CRNID Director Yoshiyuki Nagai pointed out in his introduction, “there are borders in research on infectious diseases.” The CRNID, which coordinates a network of 12 research centers across eight countries in Africa and Asia, was created to bridge these borders. Through partnerships fostered by the network, Japanese universities and research institutes work with universities in target countries toward advances in on-site diagnosis and treatment.
The issue of Asian countries becoming ‘hot spots’ for disease emergence was emphasized in a presentation by Paul Brey, director of the Institut Pasteur in Laos, who noted that factors such as animal reservoirs and the consumption of wild animals accelerate the spread of infection. Brey drew attention to the need for the “networking of networks” in research, a sentiment echoed in presentations on the situations in Vietnam, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Naoto Keicho, director of the Department of Respiratory Diseases at the International Medical Center of the Japan Research Institute, drew attention to the importance of international cooperation in his studies on tuberculosis in Vietnam. “We cannot focus only on Vietnam,” he said, “we have to think about all of Asia.”
In the second half of the symposium, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, director of the International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, emphasized the difference between the 2009 pandemic influenza and the seasonal flu, stressing the danger that this year’s pandemic could mutate into a more virulent strain. Koichiro Kudo, director of the Disease Control and Protection Center, reported on his experience visiting Mexico in August to investigate actual cases and on-site treatment methods. These presentations set the stage for a panel discussion focusing on global and domestic responses to the pandemic, including a debate on the effectiveness of vaccines and other preventive measures.
In closing remarks, Nagai highlighted the need for emerging and reemerging infectious diseases to be granted a higher priority in government policy, and looked ahead to the next phase of research in the project of founding research centers.
