Experts to work on Hepatitis C vaccine

According to ICMR estimates, about 1.5 million people in India are infected with the disease.

Experts are hopeful that the experiment, which will begin in July this year in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology NIV, will prove to be beneficial.

Speaking to The Indian Express from Pune, Director of NIV A C Mishra said, 8220;They possess the expertise as they have designed these mice and we have different strains of the virus and molecular information here. Both these form the basis of the experiment. We have worked out the logistics, and if all goes well, we will soon be able to produce a vaccine for the virus.8221; The immune systems of the special mice models developed by Germany are similar to that of humans and possess the ability to replicate the disease. 8220;There are no animal models present here that can be used for Hepatitis C. This is one of the reasons why the vaccine for the virus could not be developed anywhere in the world.

These mice have been designed by experts and can replicate the disease as in the case of humans. They have human liver cells and thus can be infected by the virus. This is a top priority project for both the governments and we hope that their mice and our virus related information will be fruitful,8221; said Mishra.

The scientific cooperation between both the countries was strengthened when they signed an MoU last year in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

The newly inaugurated centre will work in areas of virology, developing vaccines and anti-infectives. A high-level delegation from Germany 8212; led by Prof J Mlynek, President of HANRC8211;along with a team of 11 scientists are currently on a visit to India.

Prof N K Ganguly, Director General of ICMR, said the Centre would provide adequate funding opportunity for twin objects of the projects, administering collaborative budgetary efforts, promoting exchange of scientists and holding joint workshops.

MORE ON HEPATITIS C

Seroprevalence the number of persons in a population testing positive for a specific disease based on blood serum specimens of Hepatitis C virus in the Indian population is around 1.5-2.

Every year, between 1.5 million and two million Indians die due to chronic liver disease. In India 15 deaths are due to hepatitis C virus and 45 are due to Hepatitis B virus.

Specialists say that Hepatitis C rates are quite high among patients receiving dialysis, blood transfusions and organ transplants, and among people with haemophilia or thalassaemia.

Across India, genotype 3 is the most common genotype making up for 40 of cases. But the spread of the virus is not uniform. In north India 60 are type 3. In southern India it is mainly genotype 1 and 4, and partly 3.