Projects

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Rotavirus genetic diversity in bats and presence of other enteropathogens in rotavirus vaccine-breakthrough cases or patients with vaccine-derived rotavirus strains KU Leuven

Jelle Matthijnssens
Laboratory of Clinical and Epidemiological Virology (Rega Institute)

For my doctoral project, I will focus on the rotavirus genetic diversity and impact of mass vaccination in Belgium. Rotaviruses are the major causes of gastroenteritis worldwide and two oral, live-attenuated vaccines are part of national immunization schedules in Belgium. It is crucial to monitor the genotype distribution of the wild-type strains, as mass vaccination might induce selective pressure and novel rotavirus strains emerge and ...

Developing a diagnostic strategy and optimizing preventive means to recognize and control rotavirus infections in young piglets Ghent University

Hans Nauwynck
Department of Virology, parasitology and immunology

In a first phase of the project, the prevalence and importance of rotavirus infections on Flemish swine farms was investigated using extensive longitudinal field studies on 13 farms, an approach which was unique in the world. Rotavirus was endemically present on all Flemish farms. During the suckling period in the farrowing house, infections break-through in absence of good maternal (lactogenic) immunity or by the end of the farrowing stages ...

Genetic diversity of rotaviruses and co-segregation of rotavirus gene segments in reassortants. KU Leuven

Marc Van Ranst
Laboratory of Clinical and Epidemiological Virology (Rega Institute)
Rotaviruses possess a genome containing 11 segments of double stranded RNA. Reassortment among rotaviruses infecting the same cell, resulting in reassortant rotaviruses, possessing gene segments from both parental strains, is a frequently occurring phenomenon in nature. This process, involving all 11 genome segments, leads to a great genetic diversity. In this project we will introduce a new technique in our laboratory, to sequence complete ...

Gastroenteritis in rotavirus vaccinated infants in Belgium and Vietnam: the effect of maternal antibodies through breastfeading and the identification of (new) pathogens. KU Leuven

Marc Van Ranst
Laboratory of Clinical and Epidemiological Virology (Rega Institute)
Gastroenteritis (GE) infections, among which rotavirus infections, do occur in infants vaccinated against rotavirus. This can either be the consequence of so-called breakthrough infections or due to the occurrence of GE caused by other (new) pathogens. A lower effectiveness of the rotavirus vaccine could be responsible for a breakthrough infection. Compared to industrialized countries, the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccine is much lower in ...

Improving (cost-) effectiveness analyses of rotavirus vaccination programmes: combining dynamic modelling with in-depth uncertainty analysis. University of Antwerp

Philippe Beutels
Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO)
Research objectives General research objective - To advance the field of health economics of vaccines with respectto transmission-dynamic modelling and uncertainty analysis. This will be done by applying the most advanced techniques within these two key-areas to the real-world example of rotavirus disease and vaccination.Specific research objective - In particular, the proposed project aims to develop a model which best represents current ...

Exploring novel antiviral strategies to combat noro- and rotavirus infections by using gut organoids KU Leuven

Johan Neyts
Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy (Rega Institute)

The student will investigate viral replication assays in gut organoids towards their use in exploring novel antiviral strategies to combat noro- and rotavirus infections. The major limitation to develop novel small molecule inhibitors for human noro- (HuNoV) and rotaviruses (HRV) is the lack of a robust in vitro or in vivo culture model. Gut organoids will be implemented to study infection and replication of multiple HuNoV and HRV strains. ...

Including uncertainty from transmission-dynamic models in health economic evaluations: applications for rotavirus and typhoid fever vaccination. University of Antwerp

Philippe Beutels
Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CHERMID), Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO)
BACKGROUND: Dynamic models and sensitivity analysis are valued as crucial to inform decision makers on the cost-effectiveness of interventions against infectious diseases. But currently, sensitivity analyses fail to account for the uncertainty from dynamic models, as such overestimating the confidence in the cost-effectiveness estimate and potentially setting wrong priorities for future research. AIM: To include the uncertainty from ...

Intestinal organoids as models for the development of antivirals against human norovirus and rotavirus. KU Leuven

Johan Neyts
Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy (Rega Institute)

The project will investigate viral replication assays in gut organoids towards their use in exploring novel antiviral strategies to combat noro- and rotavirus infections. The major limitation to develop novel small molecule inhibitors for human noro- (HuNoV) and rotaviruses (HRV) is the lack of a robust in vitro or in vivo culture model. Gut organoids will be implemented to study infection and replication of multiple HuNoV and HRV strains. ...