Herpesvirus foundation established in Zambia, studies HHV-6A & HHV-6B

Herpesvirus foundation established in Zambia, initiates multiple studies on HHV-6A & HHV-6B

Virologist Matthew Bates, PhD—who trained at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine under Ursula Gompels, PhD, and has studied the epidemiology of HHV-6A & B infection among several clinical demographics—has founded HerpeZ, a nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to promoting herpesvirus research in Zambia and across sub-Saharan Africa. The organization has already developed important collaborations and is currently engaged in multiple research projects that will help gather data on the many patients suffering from herpesvirus infections in this region. Studies include compiling new epidemiological data on HHV-6A and HHV-6B infections in sera collected from a broad cross-section of pediatric inpatients, in sera from neonatal intensive care admissions, and in CSF samples from adult patients with a range of CNS diseases.

Dr. Bates is settled in Zambia where he is the program director of the University of Zambia and University College London Medical School (UNZA-UCLMS) Research and Training Project, mentored by the renowned TB guru Prof Alimuddin Zumla at University College London. Dr Bates was the first author of an important article published in the Journal of Medical Virology in 2009 that reported a predominance of HHV-6A primary infections in healthy Zambian infants (Bates 2009).

“I hope this site will grow into a useful tool to network researchers and educate policymakers about the importance of the herpesviruses as co-infections in populations with a high burden of HIV, TB and Malaria” said Bates.

For more information on this organization’s current endeavors and to learn how you can get involved, visit the official HerpeZ webpage.