Our scientists are focused upon the most important questions in today's healthcare environment. IDIP focuses on research that will provide new opportunities for rapid diagnosis and treatment of such diseases as hantavirus, AIDS, tuberculosis and human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer. This research will expand the body of knowledge about prevention and treatment of these diseases to New Mexico citizens, physicians and healthcare students. This interdisciplinary approach is already making strides in the effort to combat hantavirus, which has killed more than 100 Americans since its discovery in 1993, including more than 25 New Mexicans. In research published in the July 2000 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, IDIP scientists have determined that patients who produce a strong antibody response against the Sin Nombre strain of hantavirus are more likely to have a mild course of illness and survive than those who do not.
Antibodies are blood proteins that the body makes in response to infection.
These proteins attach to microbes and help destroy them during the illness. The researchers were particularly excited because the findings suggest a possible new treatment for the hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome. These results suggest that we can treat patients through administration of blood plasma from patients who have recently recovered from the illness. I safety trial of the new therapy for hantavirus. Hjelle and the rest of the investigators have a significant track record for bringing federal dollars into New Mexico.