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Could Lyme protection be built on rabies vaccine?

The NIH has awarded a grant to immunobiologist Utpal Pal, a professor at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, who is exploring a way of using the rabies vaccine to stimulate protection against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Pal is working with Matthias Schnell, director of Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson Vaccine Center, who has studied the concept with other viral vaccines.

The University of Maryland is leading an initiative supported by a $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a novel, next-generation Lyme disease vaccine.

The grant is funding the efforts of tick immunobiologist Utpal Pal, PhD, to adapt the rabies vaccination platform to stimulate production of antibodies against the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria responsible for Lyme disease.

Dr. Pal is a professor in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He is partnering with Matthias Schnell, PhD, director of Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson Vaccine Center, which is known for the study and application of the rabies virus as a platform for vaccination, according to an Oct. 2 statement from the University of Maryland.

“We are using the rabies virus as a delivery platform to send in some vaccine candidates for Borrelia,” Dr. Pal explained. “For rabies, we can produce an inactivated virus that helps the body produce the antibodies needed to fight it. Since we can produce the rabies vaccine and antibody proteins safely, why not have this virus produce other types of proteins that can do something else, like fight Borrelia?”

Although proven by Dr. Schnell and colleagues to be effective for other viral vaccinations, this approach has not yet been explored for Borrelia and other tick-borne diseases.

Using proteins that Dr. Pal’s laboratory previously identified as vaccine candidates, Dr. Pal and his team hope to combine these proteins with the rabies virus to deliver long-lasting, safe, and effective immunity. Their work will include testing the four candidate proteins, along with three major types of rabies vaccine platforms that could be effective for Lyme disease.

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Vet Burnout is worse in younger team members.

Dr. Ivan Zakharenkov suggests that those suffering the most place more emphasis on the work-life balance.
WRITTEN BY TODAY’S VETERINARY BUSINESS IN OCTOBER 2020

Veterinary professionals under age 30 suffer the highest rate of burnout, according to a study conducted by the CEO of Veterinary Integration Solutions.

Ivan Zakharenkov, DVM, used the widely recognized Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) to measure the responses of 1,457 people, mostly veterinarians and veterinary technicians, in all age groups. The project was conducted as part of his MBA dissertation.

The younger professionals stood out when asked about their emotional and physical exhaustion, enthusiasm and “sense of dread when I think about the work I have to do.”

“This finding is even more alarming because, in general, the veterinarian population is young. For example, 38% of U.S. vets are age 40 and under,” said Dr. Zakharenkov, also known as Dr. Zak.

“The reason for higher burnout can be that the younger generation places more emphasis on the work-life balance,” he said. “It’s harder for them to handle long hours or experience frustration from other factors such as the lack of control when dealing with problems at work.

“Looking to address this problem in my dissertation, I have considered a correlation between veterinary and human health care industries and proposed that implementing lean thinking methodology can help support veterinary employees’ mental well-being and keep their motivation levels high.”

Forty-three percent of the survey respondents were veterinarians and 38% were veterinary technicians. Also quizzed were practice managers, veterinary assistants, receptionists and veterinary technologists.

Burnout remains a significant issue for the veterinarians and the hospital staff, which negatively affects personal and professional wellbeing and sometimes leads to tragic consequences.

A researcher is Dr. Ivan Zakharenkov, who has extensive experience in veterinary Domain. While working for over 30 veterinary hospitals, an Emergency Veterinarian as well as a relief vet, he gained a deep understanding of the importance of a healthy work-life balance. Further, while creating “Smart Flow” – the first workflow optimization system for veterinarians, he was exposed to over 600 hospital teams as well. He was able to collect world-wide knowledge on this topic.

He decided to study to apply his experience and make a sizable impact on the industry’s wellbeing.

As burnout became a significant challenge for many veterinarians lately, various studies were conducted to investigate the issue. However, burnout rates keep increasing, which means that there is a need to go beyond assessing the degree, but also to provide a solution.

Veterinary Integration Solutions, a data and analytics company, is headquartered in Saint John, Canada.