Colleen S. Kraft, MD, MSc, is Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Mark G. Kortepeter, MD, MPH, is Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
Health Secur. 2019 Feb;17(1):35-45. doi: 10.1089/hs.2018.0106. Epub 2019 Feb 19.
The 2013-2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) that originated in West Africa underscored many of the challenges to conducting clinical research during an ongoing infectious disease epidemic, both in the most affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, as well as in the United States and Europe, where a total of 27 patients with EVD received care in biocontainment units. The Special Pathogens Research Network (SPRN) was established in the United States in November 2016 to provide an organizational structure to leverage the expertise of the 10 Regional Ebola and Other Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs); it was intended to develop and support infrastructure to improve readiness to conduct clinical research in the United States. The network enables the rapid activation and coordination of clinical research in the event of an epidemic and facilitates opportunities for multicenter research when the RESPTCs are actively caring for patients requiring a biocontainment unit. Here we provide an overview of opportunities identified in the clinical research infrastructure during the West Africa EVD epidemic and the SPRN activities to meet the ongoing challenges in the context of Ebola virus and other special pathogens.
2013 年至 2016 年期间在西非暴发的埃博拉病毒病（EVD）疫情凸显了在持续发生传染病疫情期间开展临床研究所面临的诸多挑战，无论是在受影响最严重的几内亚、利比里亚和塞拉利昂国家，还是在美国和欧洲，这两个地区总共接收了 27 名埃博拉病毒病患者在生物安全防护单位接受治疗。特别病原体研究网络（SPRN）于 2016 年 11 月在美国成立，旨在提供一个组织结构，利用 10 个区域埃博拉和其他特殊病原体治疗中心（RESPTC）的专业知识；其目的是发展和支持基础设施，以便提高在美国开展临床研究的准备工作。该网络能够在发生疫情时快速启动和协调临床研究，并在 RESPTC 积极护理需要生物安全防护单位的患者时，为多中心研究提供机会。在这里，我们概述了在西非埃博拉病毒病疫情期间临床研究基础设施中确定的机会，以及 SPRN 为应对埃博拉病毒和其他特殊病原体所带来的持续挑战而开展的活动。
