French research coordination unit, INSERM U851, Lyon, France.
In the first half of 2006, the situation on the Reunion island was similar to the urban scenario anticipated by many experts in case of a flu pandemic, with a high attack rate (30 to 40% of the general population) and an excess of all-cause mortality of at least 10% between January and March (34.4% in February 2006). These values were close to those linked to the heatwave that hit the French mainland in August 2003 (15 000 excess deaths), and far higher than those attributed each year to seasonal influenza epidemics (on average, 4% excess mortality in epidemic months, for a total of about 6000 excess deaths). In addition to health consequences, the chikungunya epidemic had a major direct and indirect economic impact in Reunion, and could thus serve as a model for studying the impact of a major epidemic in this type of country. Therefore, in reaction to this epidemic, a multidisciplinary team was mandated by the French government to help develop and organize research programs on chikungunya infection in various domains from clinical studies to epidemiology and animal models. This research coordination unit favored a number of actions among which the possibility of accelerating the production of a vaccine candidate from an attenuated chikungunya strain provided by the American army. Data and options from this work will be presented.
