Epstein Barr Virus And Associated Diseases

This comprehensive account of the human herpesviruses provides an encyclopedic overview of their basic virology and clinical manifestations. This group of viruses includes human simplex type 1 and 2, Epstein–Barr virus, Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, cytomegalovirus, HHV6A, 6B and 7, and varicella-zoster virus. The viral diseases and cancers they cause are significant and often recurrent. Their prevalence in the developed world accounts for a major burden of disease, and as a result there is a great deal of research into the pathophysiology of infection and immunobiology. Another important area covered within this volume concerns antiviral therapy and the development of vaccines. All these aspects are covered in depth, both scientifically and in terms of clinical guidelines for patient care. The text is illustrated generously throughout and is fully referenced to the latest research and developments.

The Epstein-Barr virus was discovered 15 years ago. Since that time an immense body of information has been accumu lated on this agent which has come to assume great signifi cance in many different fields of biological science. Thus, the virus has very special relevance in human medicine and oncology, in tumor virology, in immunology, and in mole cular virology, since it is the cause of infectious mononu cleosis and also the first human cancer virus, etiologically related to endemic Burkitt's lymphoma and probably to nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In addition, continuous human lymphoid cell lines initiated and maintained by the transform ing function of the virus genome provide a laboratory tool with wide and ever-growing applications. Innumerable papers on the Epstein-Barr virus have ap peared over recent years and reports of work with this agent now constitute a veritable flood. The present book provides the first and only comprehensive, authoritative over-view of all aspects of the virus by authors who have been the original and major contributors in their particular disciplines. A complete and up-to-date survey of this unique and important agent is thus provided which should be of great interest to experts, teachers, and students engaged in cancer research, virology, immunology, molecular biology, epide miology, and cell culture. Where topics have been dealt with from more than one of these viewpoints, some inevitable overlap and duplication has resulted; although this has been kept to a minimum, it has been retained in some places because of positive usefulness.

Text in English & French. This book gathers together all the most recent world-wide knowledge in the various fields of research into the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), from the most fundamental subjects (virology, molecular and cellular biology and immunology) through epidemiology, pathological anatomy, clinical research and therapeutics. Featured in the book are highly original chapters dealing with malignant lymphomas in AIDS patients, detection and prevention in developing countries, formulation of an anti-EBV vaccine. This comprehensive and clearly written book is a valuable and essential tool for all researchers and clinicians.

Epstein Barr virus (EBV) was discovered as the first human tumor virus around 50 years ago. Since its discovery in Burkitt’s lymphoma it has been associated with various other malignancies, infectious mononucleosis and even autoimmune diseases. The two book volumes on EBV summarize the first 50 years of research on this tumor virus, starting with historical perspectives on discovery, oncogenicity and immune control, reviewing the role that the virus plays in the various associated diseases and concluding with a discussion on how the immune system keeps persistent EBV infection under control in healthy EBV carriers and can be used to treat EBV associated diseases. The respective 32 chapters are written by international experts from three continents for health care providers, biomedical researchers and patients that are affected by EBV. The assembled knowledge should help to understand EBV associated diseases better and to develop EBV specific vaccination in the near future.

It has been slightly more than two decades since the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was discovered by Prof. M.A. Epstein and his colleagues at the University of Bristol in their search for the causative agent of Burkitt's lymphoma. For several years EBV was a "virus in search of a disease." The first documentation that EBV was pathogenic for humans was in 1969 when Drs. Gertrude and Werner Henle identified it as the causative agent for infectious mononucleosis. Seroepidemiologic and biochemical studies subsequently linked EBV to Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and more recently to the X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome. With its widespread pattern of infection and a predilection for producing clinical signs and symptoms in only certain individuals, EBV has provided a model for many other candidate oncogenic viruses, including papilloma viruses, herpes simplex, and HTLV/LAV. In 1975, an international workshop was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute to address the problem of EBV production, thus facilitating basic research on the virus. This proved to be the last international meeting on EBV for almost a decade. In the past, progress in both clinical and basic research on EBV has been presented in two types of international meetings, the international herpesvirus workshops devoted primarily to basic research on both human and animal herpesviruses, and the international symposia on NPC, in which EBV-related studies were interspersed with clinical, epidemiologic and other etiologic aspects of this important human neoplasm.

Epstein Barr virus (EBV) was discovered as the first human tumor virus around 50 years ago. Since its discovery in Burkitt’s lymphoma it has been associated with various other malignancies, infectious mononucleosis and even autoimmune diseases. The two book volumes on EBV summarize the first 50 years of research on this tumor virus, starting with historical perspectives on discovery, oncogenicity and immune control, reviewing the role that the virus plays in the various associated diseases and concluding with a discussion on how the immune system keeps persistent EBV infection under control in healthy EBV carriers and can be used to treat EBV associated diseases. The respective 32 chapters are written by international experts from three continents for health care providers, biomedical researchers and patients that are affected by EBV. The assembled knowledge should help to understand EBV associated diseases better and to develop EBV specific vaccination in the near future.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a fascinating microorganism, as a “double-facetted” viral agent. After primary infection, it can persist throughout a person’s lifetime in a latent form, from which it can reactivate following specific stimuli (i.e., immunodepression). Unlike other herpesviruses, EBV reactivates a countless number of times with such a high replication rate that it is unable to be controlled by conventional anti-herpesvirus drugs. Moreover, for various reasons, no vaccine is currently available in the market. This book presents a comprehensive overview of EBV, including information on its potential for oncogenic activity, its various isolates, and possible vaccine candidates.

Vaccines have made it possible to eradicate the scourge of smallpox, promise the same for polio, and have profoundly reduced the threat posed by other diseases such as whooping cough, measles, and meningitis. What is next? There are many pathogens, autoimmune diseases, and cancers that may be promising targets for vaccine research and development. This volume provides an analytic framework and quantitative model for evaluating disease conditions that can be applied by those setting priorities for vaccine development over the coming decades. The committee describes an approach for comparing potential new vaccines based on their impact on morbidity and mortality and on the costs of both health care and vaccine development. The book examines: Lessons to be learned from the polio experience. Scientific advances that set the stage for new vaccines. Factors that affect how vaccines are used in the population. Value judgments and ethical questions raised by comparison of health needs and benefits. The committee provides a way to compare different forms of illness and set vaccine priorities without assigning a monetary value to lives. Their recommendations will be important to anyone involved in science policy and public health planning: policymakers, regulators, health care providers, vaccine manufacturers, and researchers.