The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a clinical trial of a vaccine candidate meant to prevent Zika virus infection.
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Government agencies are saying they are running out money fighting the Zika virus and will have no funds left by the end of next month.
He warned that development of a vaccine for the virus could be delayed if Congress does not provide any more money and urged Americans to contact lawmakers to pressure them to take up the issue. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Turks and Caicos Islands (in the United Kingdom) to its Zika travel guidance.
The more serious impact of Zika infection is often seen on pregnant women, whose unborn child can suffer from a severe birth defect known as microcephaly.
“NIAID worked expeditiously to ready a vaccine candidate, and results in animal testing have been very encouraging”, Fauci said in a statement. “We are delighted to now be able to conduct the first study of people”, he said.
“It is simply unacceptable that efforts to counter the spread of Zika and develop a vaccine are being held hostage by Republican partisanship”, the Democrats wrote. It builds on another similar vaccine developed for West Nile virus. Both of the vaccine trials are being assessed for how safe these vaccines are for human use.
After being exposed to Zika, monkeys that got either type of vaccine had “complete protection” against the virus. It’s injected via a coil spring injector into the deltoid muscle of the arm, where the body’s cells read the DNA and create virus-like particles that should activate the immune system to create antibodies.
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.
The two vaccines completely protected a total of eight monkeys against infection. A preliminary clinical trial found that it safely prompted an immune response.
The trial, led by VRC’s clinical trial head Julie Ledgerwood, will divide participants into four groups of 20. In addition to the NIH trials, Inovio Pharmaceuticals began testing its experimental Zika vaccine July 26.
After each vaccination, participants will record their temperature and symptoms for seven days. The study team will review patient data daily and weekly to monitor safety.
The volunteers will also undergo follow-up visits to have their blood samples taken for laboratory testing to measure their immune response to the vaccine.
Dan Barouch, a professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard and an infectious-disease specialist, was the brains behind the DNA vaccine.
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According to the CDC, the Zika virus has affected 52 countries and territories around the world.
