Pushing Forward With Zika Vaccines
نویسنده
چکیده
Approximately 70 years ago, new flavivirus was discovered in the Zika forest of Uganda (Dick et al., 1952). The eponymous virus is an arthropod-borne human pathogen that caused infrequent infections with relatively mild illness in Africa and received relatively little attention until recently. Over the last several years the virus has spread into Southeast Asia, across the Pacific and, in 2015, into Brazil causing larger and larger outbreaks. Most infected individuals (~80%) are asymptomatic, while those who develop clinical disease display short-lived symptoms including: rash, fever, arthralgia, and conjunctivitis (Barzon et al., 2016). Unfortunately, the recent outbreaks have corresponded with increased rates of severe fetal neurological defects, fetal malformations, and Guillain-Barre syndrome and subsequent studies have causally linked Zika virus to these serious clinical outcomes (Cao-Lormeau et al., 2016; Johansson et al., 2016).More recently, outbreaks have been reported in over 60 countries, with well over 1 million cases in, Brazil alone, leading theWHO to declare Zika a global public health emergency. Zika virus has been demonstrated to spread through sex and transfusionwith blood produces, and to be transmitted from themother to the fetus. The development of a safe and effective vaccine against Zika virus is a public health priority, however several challenges stand in our way. First, relatively little is known about Zika virus biology or immunity. Fortunately, other flaviviruses such as yellow fever virus, dengue virus, and Japanese encephalitis virus have been well studied, and have existing vaccines with a wealth of immunogenicity and efficacy data which can serve as starting model systems as Zika-focused research efforts come online. Second, the need to protect women who are pregnant or are
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