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SINGAPORE: You've heard of dengue fever and malaria — but what of chikungunya fever?
About two years ago, there was a massive viral outbreak in India and islands in the Indian Ocean, in which victims experienced fever, headaches and nausea, among other symptoms.
They were suffering from chikungunya fever, which is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. And since many travellers come to Singapore — where the mosquito is more dreaded for carrying the dengue virus — there is a need to be prepared for a similar outbreak here or in the region, said Dr Lisa Ng.
The senior scientist at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) is studying the chikungunya virus together with the National Environment Agency's (NEA) Environmental Health Institute and the Ministry of Health (MOH).
This collaboration is part of a programme that focuses on the threat posed by emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis.
While both the NEA and MOH will focus on surveillance of chikungunya fever, SIgN will seek to "understand how it progresses and how humans respond to the disease", said Dr Ng. She aims to improve current methods of identifying the virus and find a vaccine.
The NEA said its institute's role in the research would involve finding an antibody for the chikungunya virus. The aim is also to develop a non-intrusive saliva test, it added.
Eventually, overseas universities and agencies may be invited to join the research, Dr Ng told Today after yesterday's official inauguration of SIgN and the launch of the Singapore Society of Immunology.
Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran said the network — established by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) to develop immunology research in Singapore — would focus on three research programmes.
SIgN researchers will also collaborate with the National Cancer Centre to harness the immune system for combating and curing cancer, as well as work with health institutions to study the genes and conditions that lead to immunity disorders. The network will also look at system immunology, or the functions of the immune system as a whole.
Mr Iswaran said that other than its "critical role" in finding new cures and vaccines, immunology will also "contribute to Singapore's economic growth by attracting interest and investment from the biopharmaceutical industry".
The global vaccine market, currently worth US$9 billion (S$13 billion), is estimated to grow to as much as US$42 billion by 2015 and the cancer vaccine market will grow from US$481 million to more than US$8 billion by 2012, he said. - TODAY/sh
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