It will take scientists around a
decade to develop a vaccine for the fast-moving Zika virus, an infectious
disease expert claimed today.
The US and other world leaders have
called for swift action in developing a vaccine for the virus that is currently
rampaging through Latin America and the Caribbean.
But Dr Amesh Adalja, senior
associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told Daily Mail
Online that officials shouldn’t expect any fast results.
Before the current outbreak – which
is linked to a surge in babies being born with abnormally small heads – Zika
was not considered to be a public health risk.
Dr Adalja told Daily Mail Online:
‘There wasn’t any vaccine development being undertaken prior to this outbreak
in Brazil. ‘It will be quite a while – and this
is on the scale of about a decade for a vaccine to be developed usually. There is currently no vaccine or
treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, two
viruses that cause mild fever and rash. Approximately 80 per cent of people
who are infected with Zika have no symptoms. The other 20 per cent experience
‘mild’ symptoms, such as fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. As a result, there weren't any Zika
vaccines in the pipeline, according to Dr Adalja. But in recent months, the virus has
been linked to a rare birth defect called microcephaly – in which a newborn's
head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.
The virus has been found in 24
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The World Health Organization has
warned it will soon spread to all countries across the Americas, except for
Canada and Chile. A lot of people might be
thinking that all of the sudden they had an Ebola vaccine. This is different
from Ebola – that vaccine had been in development for many years
Dr Amesh Adalja, senior associate at
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Dr Adalja explained that the public
incorrectly assumes a vaccine will be available shortly – because of the rapid
vaccine that was made available shortly after the Ebola crisis struck.
He said: ‘A lot of people might be
thinking that all of the sudden they had an Ebola vaccine.
‘This is different from Ebola – that
vaccine had been in development for many years.’
But now that Zika has become a
public health concern, researchers are going into overdrive.
First off, scientists will have to
do ‘some basic science’ to see if parts of the virus can be presented to the
immune system, according to Dr Adalja. That phase of the research may
involve animal studies in the laboratory – and will involve investigating
different ways that the immune system may react to the virus.
And once the first step is
completed, scientists will next have to determine whether the vaccine is safe
or if it has a high burden of side effects. They will also have to look into if
the vaccine triggers any autoimmune reactions.
Dr Adalja said: ‘It takes time, and
there are a lot of steps where the process can fail, but it seems to me that
because of Zika’s ability to affect fetal abnormalities, it will become a
priority.’
He noted that the vaccine won't work
just to limit the disease in adults – but also to limit the effect it can have
on fetuses. However, for the time being, there
is no cure for Zika.
The doctor said: ‘Once a person is
infected, there is nothing that you can do.
It takes time, and there are a
lot of steps where the process can fail, but it seems to me that because of
Zika’s ability to affect fetal abnormalities, it will become a priority.
‘If a pregnant woman is infected,
there is no treatment that can be done to protect the fetus – it either happens
or it doesn’t.’
The best way to prevent a fetus from
getting infected right now is for pregnant women to avoid travelling to regions
that are affected by the virus.
Dr Adalja added: ‘While we wait for
a vaccine, people really need to focus the battle on the mosquitoes that are
transmitting the virus.’
A developer recently revealed it
created a genetically modified mosquito that reduces the number of mosquitoes
spreading Zika.
Oxitec, a UK-subsidiary of US
synthetic biology company Intrexon, said it developed a self-limiting strain of
the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
The male mosquitoes were modified so
that their offspring will die before reaching adulthood or being able to
reproduce.
The company said it saw strong
results in controlling the population of the Aedes vector that carries Zika and
also the dengue virus.
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