Vaccine development for hepatitis C virus has been hampered because we do not understand the type of immune response that correlates with protection against infection and reinfection.

Rats can be infected with rodent hepacivirus (RHV), a close relative of human hepatitis C virus (HCV). RHV causes a similar pathology to HCV in rats with progressive liver damage, infiltration of activated T cells into the liver with 70 per cent of animals developing a live-long chronic infection.

As rats can be infected with RHV they can be used to study the correlates of protection and how immunity develops to hepaciviruses.

Outcomes

Poster at International Symposium on HCV and related viruses, Seoul South Korea 2019