NIH-developed Zika vaccine improves fetal outcomes in animal model

(NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) An experimental Zika vaccine lowered levels of virus in pregnant monkeys and improved fetal outcomes in a rhesus macaque model of congenital Zika virus infection, according to a new study in Science Translational Medicine. Scientists developed the experimental vaccine and currently are evaluating it in a Phase 2 human clinical trial. The vaccine uses a small circular piece of DNA, or plasmid, containing genes that encode Zika virus surface proteins to induce an immune response.
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news