DNA-based Zika vaccine showed protection from infection, brain damage and death

Vaccination generated robust and protective antigen-specific antibody and T cell immune responses in preclinical animal models. As the global spread of the Zika virus continues, efforts are underway to halt the disease’s transmission. While no licensed therapies or vaccines to protect against the Zika virus are currently available, new research published in the journal npj Vaccines demonstrates how a synthetic DNA vaccine approach successfully protected against infection, brain damage and death caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus in vivo. In this preclinical study, 100 percent of the animal models were protected from Zika after vaccination followed by a challenge with the Zika virus. In addition, they were protected from degeneration in the cerebral cortex and hippocampal areas of the brain, while the other cohort showed degeneration of the brain after Zika infection. “Our results support the critical importance of immune responses for both preventing infection as well as ameliorating disease caused by the...