New Zika Virus Vaccine Developed, Latest Breakthrough Gives 100% Protection

By Jacques Strauss, | June 07, 2017

Mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.

Mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.

A new Zika virus vaccine has been developed by experts to answer the threat of the virus, including the proliferation of the so-called of Zika virus babies. With this new vaccine, experts hope to stop the epidemic and avoid it from happening again.

The world was once again reminded of danger that mosquitoes bring to a community. There was an outbreak back in 2015 and 2016 in the Americas, which led authorities to declare a public health emergency.

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Countries in the South America, Central America, North America, and the Caribbean were greatly devastated by the epidemic. Tourism was greatly affected, and even pregnancy of women was delayed due to the impact of the virus on fetal development or Zika virus babies.

Through constant research and development of potent drugs, researchers now revealed that they were able to develop a novel vaccine for Zika. During the American Society for Microbiology 2017 meeting, researcher Farshad Guirakhoo, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, GeoVax, Inc., presented a vaccine that gives 100% protection in mice.

"A single dose of GeoVax's NS1 vaccine candidate protected 100% of vaccinated animals... A vaccine that can induce effective antibodies to NS1 and disable its function has the potential to reduce growth and transmission of Zika virus in its mosquito vector. This could enhance vaccine effectiveness in endemic areas by blocking the virus transmission from infected individuals to other members of the community," Science Daily quoted Dr. Guirakhoo as saying.

As of the current writing, some affected countries are still fixing the impact of the outbreak or Zika epidemic. Some countries like Puerto Rico has already declared that its outbreak of the virus is over.

It can be remembered that there were more than 400,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the said country. That is why the local government and foreign agencies are teaming up to improve and prevent similar cases from happening once more.

"In coordination with the CDC, we have put in place a comprehensive program focused on preparation, prevention, precaution, and surveillance. These efforts can be used as a model for other regions experiencing local Zika virus transmission," Stat News quoted Puerto Rico's secretary of health Dr. Rafael Rodriguez-Mercado as saying.

Watch here below facts about the virus:


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