Activity of collaborative research center of Okayama university for infectious disease in India

The Collaborative Research Center for Infectious Disease of Okayama University in India (CRCOUI) is located at the NICED (National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases) in Kolkata, India. The main CRCOUI research project involves measure against diarrheal diseases based on JICA project conducted at the NICED. Specifically, this involved four study themes: (1) Active surveillance of diarrheal patients, (2) Development of dysentery vaccine, (3) Viable but nonculturable (VBNC) Vibrio cholerae, (4) Pathogenic mechanism of various diarrhogenic microorganisms. Diarrheal diseases are a major health problem in developing countries, so our project confirmed the detection system of diarrhogenic microorganisms including bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Project have been applied the system at 2 hospitals in Kolkata. To spread system use to other countries, training courses were conducted for researchers and technicians from the Vietnam and Indonesia Research Center, then similar active surveillance was started in both countries.