ESTABLISHMENT OF A LABORATORY OF VIROLOGY AT THE FACULTY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES FOR RESEARCH AND DIAGNOSIS OF IMPORTANT VIRAL PATHOGENS

DAMIANI, ARMANDO MARIO

Simposio; 1st Freiburg,Germany - Mendoza, Argentina Symposium on Translational Medicine; 2018

Facultad de Cs medicas - Universidad nacional de Cuyo

Infectious diseases caused by viruses are of great public health significance with human herpes viruses as the leading cause of human viral disease, second only to influenza and cold viruses. Moreover, the recent emergence and reemergence of viral infections transmitted by vectors?Zika, chikungunya, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever and others?is a cause for international concern. In this regard, the establishment of a Laboratory of Virology with a rolein diagnosis, monitoring, and research at the Faculty of Medical Sciences is critical.As a first step towards the establishment of such laboratory, research in the field of virology was initiated last year.The construction of mutant variants of human herpesvirus type 2 (HSV-2), the most common cause of genital herpes, are under development. Such mutant viruses will be characterized in vitro and in vivo for potential use as vaccine candidates.