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Nobel Prize 2020

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Photo by Hyttalo Souza on Unsplash
D’après la Fédération des pharmaciens d’officine (FSPF), plus d’un million de personnes en France s’étaient déjà faites vaccinées contre la grippe au 1er novembre 2019, deux semaines après le lancement de la campagne annuelle. Avec le réseau Sentinelles et le projet Grippenet, l’Inserm participe activement à la surveillance des apparitions de symptômes grippaux sur le territoire français.
Entamée le 15 octobre, la campagne de vaccination contre la grippe 2019 continue de s’étendre, les pharmaciens dénombrant déjà plus d’un million de doses administrées au 1er novembre sur les 4 millions de doses délivrées. Dans notre dossier d’information sur la grippe, nous rappelons que c’est 2 à 8 millions de personnes qui sont touchées chaque année par le virus de la grippe, également appelé Influenzavirus.
Fatigue, fièvre, toux, « nez qui coule » : si les symptômes sont en apparence similaires à ceux d’un rhume ou d’une rhinopharyngite, la grippe est plus éprouvante que les autres pathologies fréquentes de l’hiver. Mutant chaque année, l’Influenzavirus peut même s’avérer mortel, notamment pour les enfants, les personnes âgées et les personnes fragiles, faisant en moyenne 5000 morts chaque année.
Sous haute surveillance à l’échelle mondiale, l’épidémie annuelle de grippe l’est aussi en France, sous la coordination de Santé publique France. C’est dans cet objectif que, depuis 1984, l’Inserm participe à la tenue du réseau Sentinelles, en partenariat avec la faculté de médecine de la Sorbonne. Plus de 1400 médecins généralistes et pédiatres libéraux, tous volontaires et répartis sur le territoire métropolitain, fournissent les données de leurs consultations afin d’établir un bilan statistique et géographique des tendances épidémiologiques. Les indicateurs ainsi fournis permettent d’évaluer l’incidence de nombreuses pathologies de manière hebdomadaire. On sait ainsi que les symptômes grippaux sont encore légers en cette fin de mois de novembre, même si certaines tendances se démarquent dans les Cévennes, dans l’Artois et dans le bocage mayennais.
Par ailleurs, les chercheurs et les professionnels de Santé peuvent aussi se reposer sur les données de surveillance fournis par le projet Grippenet. Mis en place en 2012 par le réseau Sentinelles, c’est un projet de surveillance épidémiologique permettant à tout le monde de participer en ligne, anonymement, en renseignant les symptômes dont ils pourraient souffrir d’une semaine sur l’autre. Cela permet aux chercheurs de l’Inserm et de Sorbonne Université de suivre l’évolution d’individus pouvant monter des symptômes grippaux sans pour autant avoir été consulter un médecin généraliste.
Bruno Lina, chercheur Inserm au Centre international de recherche en infectiologie (CIRI) de Lyon déclarait pour notre dossier que « [les] outils de lutte actuels ne suffisent pas à éliminer le problème de santé lié à la grippe. Nous avons un vrai besoin de connaissances dans tous les domaines ». Le réseau Sentinelles, avec l’appui du projet Grippenet, sont des outils importants pour les chercheurs désireux d’enrichir les connaissances épidémiologiques sur l’Influenzavirus et, entre autres, d’améliorer les mesures de prévention et l’efficacité des vaccins contre la grippe.
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Caused by a parasite of the genus Plasmodium, malaria is transmitted to humans through bites from the female Anopheles mosquito. It can also be transmitted via blood transfusion or from mother to child at the end of pregnancy. [1]
In 2016, the number of deaths caused by malaria was estimated at 445,000. Half of the world’s population is exposed to the risk of developing this disease [2], hence the need to act.
It is precisely in order to raise public awareness of the disease and increase its involvement in fighting it that World Malaria Day is held each year on April 25.
This year’s theme, “Ready to Beat Malaria”, was the ideal opportunity to highlight the work of researchers who strive all year round to combat this disease.
The work of Inserm Research Director Françoise Benoit-Vical and her team at the CNRS Coordination Chemistry laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanisms of Plasmodium resistance to artemisinin, the essential compound of antimalarial treatments, and conducting research into new antimalarial drugs. They recently demonstrated that the parasites resistant to this drug category are also resistant to many of the other antimalarials, including compounds with a hybrid chemical structure initially designed to avoid any resistance. These results raise fears of a generalized cross resistance of the parasite leading to a genuine therapeutic deadlock.
Inserm unit U1257 “Mosquito immune responses”, led by Stéphanie Blandin, seeks to understand how mosquitoes defend themselves against the parasites in order to use this anti-parasitic response to combat the transmission of malaria.
With this in mind, the laboratory is currently working on the development of two new antimalarial molecules to produce drugs that prevent transmission. This represents a critical challenge in the fight against malaria because very few existing drugs are able to eliminate the forms of the parasite transmissible to mosquitoes. As a consequence, even an individual cured of malaria may store these transmissible forms in the blood for one or two weeks – parasites which are likely to be ingested by a mosquito during a blood meal and then be passed on to someone else.
[1] For more details, see the WHO page dedicated to World Malaria Day
[2] For more details, see the Inserm report on this topic
The thirteenth annual World Immunization Week will take place from April 23 to 29, 2018. The campaign, created by the World Health Organization (WHO), undertakes to raise awareness about the stakes of vaccine protection.
This year, WHO is focusing on the importance of immunizing every child to “prevent the relevant diseases and protect their lives.”
The theme of the French version of this event, coordinated by the Ministry of Health and Santé Publique France, will be infant immunization. It will be a chance to continue teaching people about immunization in the context of the extension of vaccination requirements for children under age two, which entered into force in France on January 1, 2018.
The aim of the week is to increase understanding about what immunization is while reminding people that it is the best way to prevent certain illnesses.
Read the Inserm report that reviews the scientific knowledge relating to vaccination.
Read our other content about immunization:
Combining Administration Routes for Tailor-made Vaccination
Vaccines: Good News for Our Children!
Site on immunization written for the general public: http://www.vaccination-info-service.fr/
The Ministry’s vaccine calendar: http://solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/prevention-en-sante/preserver-sa-sante/vaccination/calendrier-vaccinal
For more information about Immunization Week: http://inpes.santepubliquefrance.fr/semaine-vaccination/index.asp
From March 12 to 18, 2018, for Brain Awareness Week, the general public is invited to discover the latest neuroscientific advances in an array of free events: conferences, workshops, exhibits, film screenings, and encounters with those involved in research.
The twentieth annual Brain Awareness Week will take place in over one hundred countries and more than forty cities in France. Researchers from major research organizations, neuroscience institutes, and the realm of university hospitals will offer a fun, varied program: exhibits, film screenings, shows, conferences for the general public, workshops, debates, laboratory tours, and children’s events.
Brain Awareness Week is coordinated by the Society for Neuroscience in partnership with the Brain Research Federation, under the aegis of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain.
The event’s website: www.semaineducerveau.fr/2018
View the press pack
Inserm, a Brain Awareness Week 2018 partner, is organizing several events throughout France with help from its researchers and regional offices. The press service provides journalists with contact information for the event’s reference researchers.
Nacim Betrouni
Inserm Researcher
U1171 Degenerative and vascular cognitive disorders
+33 (0)3 20 44 64 22
rf.mresni@inuorteb.mican
David Vaudry
Inserm Researcher
“Neuropeptides, neuronal death, and cell plasticity” team leader
U1239 Neuronal and neuroendocrine differentiation and communication
+33 (0)2 35 14 67 60
rf.neuor-vinu@yrduav.divad
Bertrand Nalpas
Inserm Researcher
Addiction mission leader
Scientific Information and Communication Department
+33 (0)1 44 23 67 65
rf.mresni@saplan.dnartreb
François Rouyer
Inserm Researcher
“Molecular genetics of circadian rhythms” team leader
UMR9197 Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience (NEURO-PSI)
+33 (0)1 69 82 34 36
rf.fig-srnc.fani@reyuor
Véronique Fabre
Inserm Researcher
U1130 Paris Seine Neuroscience
“Normal and pathologic glutamatergic neurons” team
+33 (0)1 44 27 60 68
rf.cmpu@erbaf.euqinorev
Frédéric Laumonnier
Inserm Researcher
U930 Imaging and brain
“Neurogenetics and neurometabolomic” team
+33 (0)2 47 36 60 62
rf.sruot-vinu.dem@reinnomual.cirederf
Christian Gachet
Inserm Researcher
Director of Unit 949 Biology and pharmacology of blood platelets: hemostasis, thrombosis, transfusion
+33 (0)3 88 21 25 25
rf.ecasla-sfe@tehcag.naitsirhc
Philippe Zizzari
Inserm Researcher
U1215 NeuroCentre Magendie
“Energy balance and obesity” team
+33 (0)1 40 78 92 22
rf.mresni@irazziz.eppilihp
Deniz Dalkara
Inserm Researcher
“Gene therapies and animal models for neurodegenerative illnesses” team leader
U968 Vision institute
+33 (0)1 53 46 25 32
rf.mresni@araklad.zined
Patrice Peran
Inserm Researcher
“Development and validation of biomarkers in MRI and nuclear medicine” team leader
U1214 TONIC (Toulouse neuroimaging center)
+33 (0)5 62 74 61 96
rf.mresni@narep.ecirtap
Claude Gronfier
Inserm Researcher
U1208 Stem cell and brain research institute
“Chronobiology and affective disorders” team
+33 (0)4 72 91 34 89
rf.mresni@reifnorg.edualc
Perrine Ruby
Inserm Researcher
U1028 CRNL – Center for Research in Neuroscience in Lyon
“DYCOG – Brain dynamics and cognition” team
+33 (0)4 72 13 89 21
Email: rf.mresni@ybur.enirrep
Sébastien Carcinella
Inserm Researcher
U1216 Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience (GIN)
“Brain stimulation and systems neuroscience” team
+33 (0)4 56 52 06 75
rf.elbonerg-fju@allecinrac.neitsabes
Isabelle Chaudieu
Inserm Researcher
U1061 Neuropsychiatry: epidemiological and clinical research
+33 (0)4 99 61 45 78
rf.mresni@ueiduahc.ellebasi
Marie Péquignot
Inserm Researcher
U1051 Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier: sensory and motor deficits
“Genetics and therapy for retinal and optic nerve blindness” team
+33 (0)4 99 63 60 52
rf.mresni@tongiuqep.eiram
Christophe Bernard
Inserm Researcher
“Physiology and physiopathology of neural networks” team leader
U1106 Institute of systems neuroscience – INS
+33 (0)4 91 32 42 49
rf.mresni@dranreb.ehpotsirhc
View Inserm’s latest neurosciences publications:
The Biological Clock Sets a Different Rhythm for Each Organ
February 28, 2018, marks the eleventh annual world Rare Disease Day, which carries the slogan “Show your rare. Show you care.” and the #ShowYourRare hashtag. World Rare Disease Day was created in 2008 by EURORDIS and the Council of National Alliances. Ninety countries will be participating in 2018.
Orphanet, which is coordinated by Inserm and is a member of the Rare Disease Platform, is the portal of reference for rare diseases and orphan drugs. It offers an array of freely accessible services to allow patients to understand their disease and its consequences, and to orient them in their care pathways by identifying diagnosis laboratories and reference centers.
A large consortium headed by the University of Tübingen (Germany), the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen (Netherlands), and the University of Leicester (UK), as well as Inserm in France through Orphanet, two major research institutions (the Myology Center for Research and the Brain and Spine institute in Paris), Eurordis, and the Dijon University Hospital, received a €15 million grant for the SOLVE-RD research program.
Today, no less than twenty-four European Reference Networks (ERN) have been set up to improve and harmonize diagnosis and treatment for people with rare diseases. To date, four of them have joined SOLVE-RD by adding and sharing their patient data: RND for rare neurological diseases, EURO-NMD for neuromuscular diseases, ITHACA for congenital malformations and intellectual disability, and GENTURIS for genetic tumor risk syndromes. Other ERNs will join the project in the months to come.
Inserm Unit US14 Information and service platform for rare diseases and orphan drugs (Orphanet)
Contribution: description of profiles of patients suffering from unnamed rare diseases
Inserm Unit 1127 Brain and Spine Institute (ICM)
Contribution: ERN-RND
Inserm Unit 974 Myology Center for Research (CRM)
Contribution: ERN-EURO-NMD
View Inserm’s latest press releases on rare diseases:
Gene Therapy: First Results in Children with Sanfilippo B Syndrome
Microdystrophin Restores Muscle Strength in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Usher Syndrome: Gene Therapy Restores Hearing and Balance
One Step Closer to Restoring Respiratory Function in Cystic Fibrosis?
An Edible Mushroom with Potential to Fight Human Genetic Diseases
The First French Cell Therapy Trial in a Form of Retinitis Pigmentosa on the Horizon
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Since the COP 22, health has been a central topic of discussion. It is within this context, and on the day before the One planet Summit to be held tomorrow in Paris, that 10 principles for protecting respiratory health from climate change were proposed by an ad hoc workgroup from the Environment and Health Committee of the European Respiratory Society. Those principles have just been published in European Respiratory Journal: http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/50/6/1701912
Isabella Annesi-Maesano, INSERM Research Director, is a co-author of this article.
Conclusion
Healthcare professionals have a duty to contribute to the application of these principles.
[i] . Climate change is happening now[i]. The rise in global average temperatures is quite clear. The deviation from the average for the period of reference, ranging from 1961 to 1990, has almost always been positive since the early 1980s. The decade from 2001 to 2010 was 0.21°C warmer than the decade from 1991 to 2000, and is 0.48°C higher than the 1961-1990 average. 2016 was the warmest year (by 1.2° Celsius) on the planet since temperatures began being recorded in 1880, marking the third consecutive annual heat record according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The land and ocean surface temperature was 0.94ºC higher than the twentieth-century average of 13.9ºC, which was 0.9ºC higher than the previous record for 2015, according to NOAA. Land surface temperatures alone were 1.43ºC higher than the twentieth-century average, and ocean surface temperatures were 0.75ºC higher (or 0.1 point higher than the 2015 record). Rising temperatures and the resulting extreme weather (flooding, heat waves, storms) are caused by the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (methane, nitrous oxide, fluorocarbons) in the atmosphere due to human activity.
[ii] Climate change and respiratory diseases ERR 2014 23
[iii] Mendell MJ, Mirer AG, Cheung K, et al. Respiratory and allergic health effects of dampness, mold, and dampness related agents: a review of the epidemiologic evidence. Environ Health Perspect 2011; 119: 748–756.
[iv] Ayres JG, Forberg B, Annesi-Maesano I, et al. Climate change and respiratory disease: European Respiratory Society statement. Eur Respir J 2009; 34: 295–302
[v] Annesi-Maesano I.UN Climate Change Conferences: COP21 a lost opportunity for asthma and allergies and preparing for COP22. J Allergy Clin Immnol 2016;138:57-8