Zika Vaccine Hope

An experimental Zika vaccine raised renewed hope after it worked “very well” in mice.

18:28 30 June 2016

A team of US researchers has found that a single dose of an experimental vaccine can protect mice against the Zika virus, renewing hope of vaccine for humans. However, experts said that a licensed vaccine for widespread use to protect pregnant women would be years away even if the test in humans, which could begin in months, proved to be successful.

 

Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes, has been spreading across Central and South America, and most recently Africa. It causes serious birth defects during pregnancy and has been declared a global public health emergency. For this reason, the development of vaccine for pregnant women to protect their unborn babies is an international research priority.

 

Two types of Zika vaccines were tested by US scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and Harvard Medical School. One is based on genetic code from the virus while the other one is an inactive replica of Zika. Both jabs worked well in mouse, giving protection against the virus. In the study, all the mice that were not given the vaccine caught Zika after they were exposed to it.

 

Prof Peter Openshaw, from the British Society for Immunology, said it was important to move to human studies as soon as possible.

 

"By the time human vaccines are ready, many of the vulnerable population will have already been naturally infected," he said.

 

"The purpose of vaccination will presumably be to protect travellers and those wishing to become pregnant.

 

"It will be vital to see how vaccines will work in such situations and how the practical and economic barriers to vaccine deployment can be overcome."