BIP : The Institut Pasteur Newsletter, April 13, 2018

One of the major challenges identified by the WHO in efforts to eradicate the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the diagnosis of chronic cases that are generally asymptomatic. Major progress is required for new diagnostic techniques that can be "decentralized", in other words accessed by populations and countries with limited resources. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm, in collaboration with the company genedrive, have developed and validated a rapid, reliable, point-of-care HCV assay.

100 years after the deadliest influenza pandemic in human history – the 1918 Spanish flu – emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases continue to pose a threat to public health around the world. Recent illustrations include the SARS, H1N1, MERS-CoV, Ebola and Zika epidemics, all associated with direct health and wider economic burdens and social instability.

Celebrated every year in mid-April, Bon Chaul Chhnam, the Khmer New Year, is one of the most important festivals in Cambodia. For the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge Virology Unit, it is also a time of intense mobilization.

Over the past few years, the development of renewable energy sources has become a hot topic, and green energy offerings are on the rise. As part of broader efforts to raise awareness of these new options among the general public, the company Origo, a young start-up which provides Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin, is joining forces with the Responsible Campuses network to organize the eco-friendly competition "Student for Green Watts" on Facebook – and the Institut Pasteur is rising to the challenge!