Research on the risk of arrival in Australia of a debilitating disease spread by the same mosquito that carries Zika, is one of $2.8m in the latest NHRMC grants awarded to QUT.
Dr Francesca Frentiu, from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said her research would help understand the risk of an outbreak of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in Australia.
“Chikungunya causes extremely crippling joint pain that can, in some adults, last for up to a year and can be very debilitating. In some cases, it has led to death in children and older people,” Dr Frentiu said.
“We have the mosquitoes that can carry the virus present in Queensland as far south as Gin Gin. The virus can be passed on by an infected person arriving in Australia, who is bitten by the mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Another mosquito that is very good at spreading Chikungunya is Aedes albopictus, which is found in the Torres Strait Islands.
“As well as being vectors of chikungunya and Zika, these two mosquitoes already transmit dengue virus.
“Chikungunya has very high attack rates meaning a large number of people could become infected.”
“The current epidemic of chikungunya in the Americas has affected more than 1.7 million people.”
Dr Frentiu said her study would be the first to integrate experimental data with mathematical models to evaluate the transmission risk of chikungunya under present and future climate scenarios. The framework developed in this study could be applied to understand the risk of Zika transmission in Australia."
“The project will provide information for public health authorities to plan response measures, including mosquito surveillance and control and the safety of blood supplies during outbreaks to ensure it is not passed on through blood donations."
Other QUT recipients of the NHMRC grants are:
Project grants
Dr Mark Adams - improving treatment of non-small cell lung cancer: suppressing cell division cycle associated protein 3.
Professor Lyn Griffiths - identifying novel gene mutations for molecular diagnosis of familial hemiplegic migraine.
Professor Patsy Yates - a sequential multiple assignment randomised trial (SMART) of nursing interventions to reduce pain associated with chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.
Career Development Fellowships
Dr Leila Cuttle - better healing for children's burn injuries
Dr Michael Doran - bridging the fields of cartilage, bone marrow and cancer research
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, QUT Media, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
