Unknown Infection & Immunity NIHR-supported project Pregnancy, Children & Inherited Conditions

Prospective Multicentre Observational Study of Imported Arboviral Infections in the United Kingdom (ARBO-UK).

Funder NIHR (part of DHSC)
Recipient organisation NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Emergency and Acute Care
NIHR support Recorded as supported by this research centre
Period Jan 2025 — Ongoing

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A returning traveller with a high fever, muscle aches, and a rash could be carrying a virus transmitted by a mosquito or tick—but UK doctors have no systematic way to track how these infections progress or what treatments work best. Arboviruses like dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are common in tropical regions and cause illnesses ranging from mild fever to fatal brain inflammation or internal bleeding. In the UK, these infections are rare but rising as international travel increases. Clinicians currently lack a standardised, evidence-based approach to managing imported cases, and researchers have limited access to patient samples for developing better diagnostics and vaccines. This three-year observational study will follow patients diagnosed with an arbovirus infection across multiple UK hospitals. Researchers will record symptoms, treatments, and outcomes, and collect biological samples for laboratory analysis. If successful, the study will produce the first comprehensive clinical picture of imported arboviral disease in the UK, inform treatment guidelines, and provide the biological material needed to develop faster diagnostic tests and candidate vaccines—tools that could improve care for individual patients and strengthen the country’s preparedness for future outbreaks.

View original technical description
Arbovirus infections are illnesses caused by viruses which are spread by arthopod insects such as mosquitoes, midges or ticks to vertebrate hosts (humans, horses, cattle). Arboviruses in humans are many and include Japanese encephalitis (JE), dengue virus (DENV), chikungunya virus(CHIKV), west nile virus (WNV), yellow fever virus (YFV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). Arbovirus infections can cause a range of human illnesses. Sometimes people may not be aware they have been infected but more commonly people can experience headaches, muscle aches, high temperatures and a rash. Some people can experience very severe illnesses such as excessive bleeding (haemorrhage) throughout the body or inflammation in the brain (encephalitis). Sadly, in some cases, this can cause them to die. Arboviruses are found worldwide, mostly in tropical regions and are a huge problem. Arboviruses are rare in the UK although there some examples that affect animals and very rarely people. More commonly, they cause illnesses in returning travellers to the UK. The study will last for 3 years in the first instance from commencing, funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit- Emerging Zoonotic Infections (HPRU-EZI) and aims to review how patients with an arbovirus are affected and treated plus providing important samples for scientists to be able to develop new tests to diagnose infections and potentially develop vaccines against Arboviruses in the future.

Researchers

Shaz Ahmad (Principal Investigator)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

Characterising the antigenic cross-reactivity of arboviruses to aid vaccine assessment and development, and serosurveillance.
RCG Culex distribution, vector competence and threat of transmission of arboviruses to humans and animals in the UK
Vector competence of British mosquitoes to flaviviruses
The virome of UK Culex pipiens mosquitoes and its effect on their competence as vectors of arboviruses
Determining the risks of mosquito-borne viral zoonoses emerging and spreading from East African forests

Original classification

Theme 2: Secondary Care

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.