New Zika
vaccine may protect baby from birth defects
Houston: An
experimental Zika vaccine administered during pregnancy may protect the unborn
baby from infection and birth defects, scientists have found.
Although promising progress on developing vaccines has been
made with animal models, the study from The University of Texas Medical Branch
at Galveston in US is the first to demonstrate that potential vaccines could
protect a foetus from the Zika virus.
“In the study, we were the first to show that two different
potential vaccines given to the mother prevent the Zika virus from infecting
the foetus during pregnancy in a mouse model,” said Pei-Yong Shi, professor at
UTMB.
“Based on these data, we believe that evaluating the
vaccines' ability to prevent birth defects in humans is warranted,” said Shi.
While a Zika infection typically results in mild or
symptom-free infections in healthy adults and children, the risk of
microcephaly and other diseases in a developing foetus is an alarming
consequence that has created a worldwide health threat.
Pregnant women who are infected with the virus but never
display any symptoms may still give birth to a baby with microcephaly.
Female mice were vaccinated against Zika with one of the two
developing vaccines prior to becoming pregnant and then exposed to the virus
during their pregnancies.
Researchers found the vaccinated pregnant mice showed little
or no evidence of the virus in the mothers' body including the placenta or in
the foetuses' bodies.
“Having a Zika vaccine that can protect pregnant women and
their unborn babies would improve public health efforts to avoid birth defects
and other effects of the disease in regions where Zika is circulating,” Shi
said. The findings were published in the journal Cell. -
Source:DNA-15th Juy,2017
