It is meant to promote an immune response that would protect against the mosquito-borne virus that can cause devastating birth defects, according to a statement from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
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The trial will be among the first to inject the virus in humans, after having shown promise in animal studies. Human trials to test a Zika vaccine began in July in the U.S with Inovio Pharmaceutical’s efforts.
The findings were published online August 4 in the journal Science.
And that’s with research on various trials being fast-tracked as the number of people believed to be infected by mosquitoes in Florida climbs. Prior to this study, scientists were unsure whether one vaccine could protect someone from both the “African” and “Asian” genetic lineages of Zika. It works the same way vaccines have traditionally worked – by introducing a whole killed virus into the body to stimulate the immune system to fight a disease.
The virus is thought to cause microcephaly – characterized by stunted brain development and abnormally small skulls – in babies whose mothers contracted the illness while pregnant.
Zika is spreading, in large part, due to climate change, which has improved environments for the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the virus.
The threat of contracting Zika has led for some athletes to skip the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The vaccine will be tested at three study sites in the United States.
“We are investigating that carefully, and if we do identify another area of local transmission, we will put out an advisory”, Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health, said late Tuesday.
“Now the money that we need to fight Zika is running out”, Obama said. “So, the development of a safe, effective vaccine is a priority”. Yesterday, they declared that trials of three vaccines had been successful and provided complete immunity to rhesus monkeys.
Dr. Osterholm says there are some serious safety concerns with the Zika vaccine because of the type of virus. It’s a standard way to create a vaccine. None of the vaccinated monkeys carried virus in their blood following the infection, while all of the untreated monkeys did.
Fauci said that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has enough doses of the vaccine to start the phase 2 trials if the first phase proves to be successful.
But he called the results “very significant”.
These vaccines are developed by Harvard, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
The PIV approach to vaccination is “tried and true”, said Adalja, who is also a senior associate with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Health Security.
“Some of these products, particularly some vaccines, may take $500 million to a billion dollars”, he said. Traditional vaccine production is a slow, inefficient process.
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A single shot of the adenovirus vaccine prompted recipients to make Zika-fighting antibodies two weeks after the injection. He said the second phase could begin early next year.
