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Carolina expert a leader in effort to develop vaccine for SARS

Finding a vaccine for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has become a pressing mission for Dr. Ralph Baric, professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and of microbiology and immunology in the School of Medicine.

In its initial outbreak this year, SARS spread to some 30 countries and infected thousands of people worldwide. Caused by a new member of the coronavirus family, SARS is related to viruses that cause the common cold and gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases in animals.

Coronaviruses typically cause mild respiratory infections or diarrhea. Genetic analysis of sars suggests the virus originated in a non-human animal.

Baric’s research interest is coronavirus reverse genetics and he is among the scientists throughout the world now in search of a cure. Currently, there is no standard treatment for the syndrome.

Already, Baric is assembling a research team comprising scientists from the Southeastern United States, California and New York.

	Baric

The first step in the research effort will be to clone the genetic structure of SARS. Researchers will then focus on the immunogenic qualities of candidate genes that could be developed into what Baric calls a “live attenuated vaccine” comparable to the oral vaccine for polio.

“ We will work as hard as we can to stay close to the front of this surge in sars research,” Baric said. So little is known about SARS at this point that Baric is reluctant to make broad statements about the illness. One thing is clear: The danger of newly emerging respiratory pathogens is real. For example, the Spanish influenza of 1918 killed more than 20 million people and had a mortality rate of 2.5 percent. The common flu has a mortality rate of 0.1 percent.

Based on current statistics, SARS has a mortality rate of 14.15 percent. For every 100 people who have entered the hospital with SARS, 14.15 have died. The elderly are most vulnerable. What is not known is the number of people who have had SARS but were not hospitalized.

SARS is less contagious than the common flu. But since no human previously has been exposed to SARS, no one has immunity—and that makes everyone vulnerable.

“ We really don’t know yet what the mortality rate [for SARS] is,” Baric said.

As of August, the World Health Organization reported a cumulative total of 8,437 probable cases and 813 deaths.

While Baric and others work for a cure, research also is focused on the development of a therapeutic drug to reduce the mortality rate.

Baric, through his previous work, has contributed to the understanding of molecular and genetic mechanisms governing the replication and transcription of coronaviruses. His work has opened the door to new approaches for control and prevention of these human and animal pathogens and has provided an important foundation for vaccine development.

This story is adapted from a piece by Gary Moss that appeared in the University Gazette, UNC’s faculty/staff newspaper.

School launches Get Kids in Action Partnership with The Gatorade Co.

Kids and communities nationwide will be more active, thanks to a new partnership between one of the world’s leading sports companies and Carolina.

The School of Public Health and The Gatorade Co. this summer launched a $4 million, multi-year partnership— Get Kids in Action—whose goal is to identify successful strategies that will help reduce and prevent pediatric obesity. This partnership, which also includes UNC’s department of athletics, was celebrated on July 21 with a Washington, DC ceremony and sports clinic on the National Mall in front of the US Capitol.

		US Surgeon General Richard Carmona and Carolina alumna and Washington Freedom soccer star Mia Hamm help launch Get Kids in Action.

US Surgeon General Richard Carmona, Washington Freedom soccer star and UNC alumna Mia Hamm, Gatorade president Chuck Maniscalco, and the School’s associate dean for research and nutrition chairman, Dr. Steve Zeisel, helped launch this innovative partnership, which will focus on research, education and outreach.

“ It takes a team to get the word out into all of the community so we can get children moving and keep them moving,” Carmona said. “We really need to get everybody to get on board and help us make this a healthier United States. Kids should get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, and I applaud innovative public-private partnerships like Get Kids in Action that help us motivate kids towards that goal.”

Carmona gave 50 children from two DC area YMCAs the title “Junior Assistant Surgeons General” and asked them to tell their families, friends and teachers to stay physically active and to eat right.

In October 2002, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued results from a 1999–2000 survey showing that, nationwide, more than 15 percent of children ages 6 to 19—nearly 9 million children—were overweight (BMI above 95th percentile). That figure is triple the proportion from 20 years ago.

“ There is no one magic formula to solve the childhood obesity epidemic, like mandating P.E. in schools or banning certain foods,” said Dean Bill Roper. “Unlike previous attempts to address childhood obesity, this new partnership aims to develop multi-faceted solutions that target the full range of individuals who can have an impact, including physicians, community leaders and families.”

The partnership will take a community-based approach to creating tools and recommendations for increasing childhood activity and healthy eating. The goal is to replicate those strategies in communities nationwide.

School researchers will study four NC communities to better understand how doctors and community organizations can work together with families to increase activity levels among children. The research will test tools that will help doctors identify children at risk for obesity, provide counseling to parents and children to prevent obesity, and offer doctors information on community-based activity programs which can be made available to parents.

The partnership’s education component will advise doctors, community leaders and families on ways to increase children’s level activity and to promote healthy eating. Programs beginning next year in North Carolina include childhood activity conferences, community town hall meetings, CD-ROMs for medical residents and doctors, and community youth grants.

UNC’s student-athletes will also meet with and mentor elementary and middle school children regarding the importance of physical activity.

“ I am as passionate about encouraging kids to get active as I am about winning on the soccer field,” said Hamm, who helped UNC win four women’s soccer championships. “There is no more important message that athletes can send to kids today than to get up, get active and have fun. Being active as a kid sets an important precedent for being an active and healthy adult.”

Get Kids in Action is one of the first such partnerships between corporations and public universities to address childhood obesity. Additional information on the partnership may be found at www.getkidsinaction.com.

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