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Statens Serum Institut (SSI, lit. The State's Serum Institute), is a Danish sector research institute located on the island of Amager in Copenhagen. Its purpose is to combat and prevent infectious diseases, congenital disorders, and threats from weapons of mass destruction. [1]
Founded in 1902 in the barracks of the Artillerivej road, it has now expanded to much more than its original size and is now one of Denmark's largest research institutions in the health sector. 20% of sales are used on Research and Development and Danish and International funds contribute around 100 million DKK. [2]
Administratively, the State Serum Institute sorts under the Danish Ministry of Health and Prevention under minister of health. Virologist Herdis von Magnus headed the Institute's enterovirus department in 1955 and led the development and distribution of the polio vaccine in Denmark. [3]
The president and CEO of the institute has since 2020 been Henrik Ullum, preceded by Kåre Mølbak. The Department of Epidemiology plays a large role in the surveillance and tracking of infectious disease outbreaks in Denmark allowing for comprehensive monitoring of Danish public health. [4] Apart from research into epidemiology and disease prevention, the institute also develops and produces vaccines, and is an integral part of the Danish ABC-preparedness operation. The institute has successfully produced the vaccines: BCG vaccine Danish Strain 1331 against tuberculosis, diTeBooster for revaccination, and VeroPol which is an inactivated poliomyelitis virus vaccine(IPV) that produces antibodies after primary vaccination for poliovirus 1, 2, and 3. [5]
Apart from work in Denmark, Statens Serum Institut is also involved in health promotion and monitoring in Guinea-Bissau, as maintained by the Bandim Health Project.
Mainly doctors, pharmaconomists (expert in pharmaceuticals) and pharmacists work at the National Serum Institute. A total of 385 people at SSI are engaged in research. SSI contributes each year over 30 master students and 10-15 PhDs. In 2009, the institute made 326 publications, 279 of which had an impact factor. [5] 74 of these publications were related to topics of infectious disease; an area of study that the institute is focusing on in preparation for new resistant strain emergence due to antibiotic resistance. [2] [6]
SSI has transferred its vaccine production business to AJ Vaccines. AJ Vaccines will continue to produce vaccines on SSI's facility. SSI, under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Prevention, will continue to be responsible for ensuring the supply of vaccines to the Danish vaccination programmes. [7]
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB). It is named after its inventors Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin. In countries where tuberculosis or leprosy is common, one dose is recommended in healthy babies as soon after birth as possible. In areas where tuberculosis is not common, only children at high risk are typically immunized, while suspected cases of tuberculosis are individually tested for and treated. Adults who do not have tuberculosis and have not been previously immunized, but are frequently exposed, may be immunized, as well. BCG also has some effectiveness against Buruli ulcer infection and other nontuberculous mycobacterial infections. Additionally, it is sometimes used as part of the treatment of bladder cancer.
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and recognize further and destroy any of the microorganisms associated with that agent that it may encounter in the future.
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs and symptoms may vary from mild to severe, and usually start two to five days after exposure. Symptoms often develop gradually, beginning with a sore throat and fever. In severe cases, a grey or white patch develops in the throat, which can block the airway, and create a barking cough similar to what is observed in croup. The neck may also swell, in part due to the enlargement of the facial lymph nodes. Diphtheria can also involve the skin, eyes, or genitals, and can cause complications, including myocarditis, inflammation of nerves, kidney problems, and bleeding problems due to low levels of platelets.
The MMR vaccine is a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella, abbreviated as MMR. The first dose is generally given to children around 9 months to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 15 months to 6 years of age, with at least four weeks between the doses. After two doses, 97% of people are protected against measles, 88% against mumps, and at least 97% against rubella. The vaccine is also recommended for those who do not have evidence of immunity, those with well-controlled HIV/AIDS, and within 72 hours of exposure to measles among those who are incompletely immunized. It is given by injection.
Influenza vaccines, colloquially known as flu shots, are vaccines that protect against infection by influenza viruses. New versions of the vaccines are developed twice a year, as the influenza virus rapidly changes. While their effectiveness varies from year to year, most provide modest to high protection against influenza. Vaccination against influenza began in the 1930s, with large-scale availability in the United States beginning in 1945.
Anthrax vaccines are vaccines to prevent the livestock and human disease anthrax, caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis.
The National Public Health Institute of Finland was a research and expert institute under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health charged with the task of protecting and promoting health in Finland. KTL was founded in 1911; the final form was established in 1982 in order to promote public health in Finland.
The Bandim Health Project works with population based health research in one of the world's poorest countries, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.
The Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, also known as Hib vaccine, is a vaccine used to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection. In countries that include it as a routine vaccine, rates of severe Hib infections have decreased more than 90%. It has therefore resulted in a decrease in the rate of meningitis, pneumonia, and epiglottitis.
The rotavirus vaccine is a vaccine used to protect against rotavirus infections, which are the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young children. The vaccines prevent 15–34% of severe diarrhea in the developing world and 37–96% of the risk of death among young children due to severe diarrhea. Immunizing babies decreases rates of disease among older people and those who have not been immunized.
NmVac4-A/C/Y/W-135 is the commercial name of the polysaccharide vaccine against the bacterium that causes meningococcal meningitis. The product, by JN-International Medical Corporation, is designed and formulated to be used in developing countries for protecting populations during meningitis disease epidemics.
Rubella vaccine is a vaccine used to prevent rubella. Effectiveness begins about two weeks after a single dose and around 95% of people become immune. Countries with high rates of immunization no longer see cases of rubella or congenital rubella syndrome. When there is a low level of childhood immunization in a population it is possible for rates of congenital rubella to increase as more women make it to child-bearing age without either vaccination or exposure to the disease. Therefore, it is important for more than 80% of people to be vaccinated. By introducing rubella containing vaccines, rubella has been eradicated in 81 nations, as of mid-2020.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. It is located in Berlin and Wernigerode. As an upper federal agency, it is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Health. It was founded in 1891 and is named for its founding director, the founder of modern bacteriology and Nobel laureate Robert Koch.
Pasteur Institute of Iran is a medical research center located in Tehran, Iran. The institute is one of the oldest leading research and public health centers in Iran and the Middle East, established in 1920 following an agreement between the Institute Pasteur of Paris and the Iranian government. The Pasteur Institute of Iran was developed with the help of a land donation from Abdol-Hossein Farmanfarma. Its mission is to support advanced research and to provide innovative programs in basic and applied medical sciences, and production of biopharmaceuticals and diagnostic kits with special emphasis on infectious diseases. It meets the specialized and scientific health demands of the local community and tries to establish a link between applied research and industry. Pasteur Institute is a leading regional facility in the development and manufacture of vaccines. The institute has a total staff of 1300 in its 28 departments and 5 branches in different cities of Iran, which are active in different areas of medical and pharmaceutical biotechnology. There are about 300 PhDs and M.Sc. graduates.
Preben Christian Alexander von Magnus was a Danish virologist who is known for his research on influenza, polio vaccination and monkeypox. He gave his name to the Von Magnus phenomenon.
Peter Aaby is trained as an anthropologist but also holds a doctoral degree in medicine. In 1978, Peter Aaby established the Bandim Health Project, a Health and Demographic Surveillance System site in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, which he has run ever since. In 2000, Peter Aaby was awarded the Novo Nordisk Prize, the most important Danish award within health research.
Herdis von Magnus was a Danish virologist and polio expert. After working with Jonas Salk, she and her husband directed the first polio vaccination program in Denmark. She also researched encephalitis.
Mads Melbye is director of the Cancer Institute in Denmark (DCRC). He earned his M.D. degree from University of Aarhus, Denmark, in 1983, and a DMSc degree from the same university in 1988. His thesis work was partly done as a fellow in the epidemiology program (1985–1986) at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, US. After clinical training he became senior investigator in 1989 at the Danish Cancer Registry in Copenhagen, and in 1991 state epidemiologist at Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Copenhagen. In 1992, Melbye was given a personal chair in infectious disease and cancer epidemiology by the Danish minister for research and education. He founded the Department of Epidemiology Research at SSI and to day this department is one of Europe's largest epidemiology research milieus. From 1998 to 2008 he was foreign adjunct professor at Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Branch at Karolinska University in Stockholm. In 2012 he established the Danish National Biobank, which is one of the biggest biobanks in the world today. Same year he became senior vice-president at Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen and from 2016 till 2020 president and CEO. He is presently professor of medical epidemiology at University of Copenhagen and affiliated with Department of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Cluster 5 is a designation used by the Danish Statens Serum Institut for a virus variant described by the institute in autumn 2020, in connection with investigations of SARS-CoV-2 infection among mink and humans in the north of Jutland, Denmark.
Both the American mink and the European mink have shown high susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 since the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, first in mink farms across Europe, followed by mink farms in the United States. Mortality has been extremely high among mink, with 35–55% of infected adult animals dying from COVID-19 in a study of farmed mink in the U.S. state of Utah.
