COLUMBUS – Researchers at Ohio State are optimistic that their experimental vaccine, which employs a two-pronged attack, proves effective against the Zika virus in humans.
The team has developed and tested a vaccine that uses an uncommon approach and which has proven powerful in tests on mice fighting the virus, which is spread by mosquitos and is most serious for pregnant women and their fetuses.
“In this study, the vaccine was potent, safe and highly effective, at least in the short term. There’s a long way to go, but we think this is a promising candidate for a human vaccine,” said Jianrong Li, an Ohio State professor of veterinary biosciences who led the study and developed the vaccine platform.
The single-dose vaccine, carrying the genes for two or three Zika proteins, proved effective in triggering an immune response that prevented later infection by Zika virus, according to the study, which appears in the journal Nature Communications.
Babies born to Zika-infected mothers are sometimes born with a birth defect called microcephaly. Other complications include miscarriage, stillbirth and other birth defects. Research also suggests that a small percentage of people infected with the virus can contract Guillain-Barre syndrome, which affects the nervous system.
There’s no vaccine available currently, though some are in clinical trials, and the only protection against Zika are preventative measures such as insect repellant, staying indoors and wearing long sleeves and pants.
The experimental vaccine holds particular promise because it appears to afford an adequate immune response with one dose, said Shan-Lu Liu, a study co-author and director of Ohio State’s Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program. He says, in hard-to-reach and resource-poor areas, that becomes especially valuable.