Diarrhoeal Pathogen Research Unit (DPRU)

Diarrhoeal diseases remain a leading cause of mortality among infants and young children in Africa. In September 2000, 189 heads of states adopted the United Nations’ eight millennium development goals (MDGs), with the target for MDG 4 being to reduce child mortality by two thirds. While the number of children dying before their fifth birthday fell by 30% from 12.4 million in 1990 to 8.8 million in 2008, diarrhoea and pneumonia still kill 3 million children a year. It is estimated that a significant proportion of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where post-neonatal diarrhoeal deaths still account for 17% of total under 5-year-old mortality. The research mandate of the South African Medical Research Council-Diarrhoeal Pathogen Research Unit (SAMRC-DPRU) was established to address the leading causative agents of diarrhoea in African children.

Since its establishment, the SAMRC-DPRU has grown to become an internationally recognised premier research center of excellence in Africa, conducting groundbreaking research in the field of rotaviruses, providing training for postgraduate students and African scientists, and conducting rotavirus vaccine trials to facilitate regulatory pathways for licensing vaccines in Africa as well as post-marketing surveillance studies, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The SAMRC-DPRU successfully co-established the African Rotavirus Surveillance Network (AFR RSN). The unit operates as a WHO Regional Rotavirus Reference Laboratory (RRRL) for Africa since 2005 (the other RRRL is located at Noguchi Memorial Research Institute at University of Ghana), being appointed to this position by the WHO and Programme for Appropriate Technology and Health (PATH, Seattle, USA). The core functions of the RRRL are to conduct basic scientific research, surveillance and burden of disease studies, and provide technical support to other African laboratories conducting rotavirus research and surveillance.