It's great to hear that scientists have worked out a way to test for the Zika virus in pregnant women. This dreadful disease, which is spread by mosquitos, has symptoms similar to dengue fever, which also rages in some parts of South America. The latter however, does not affect the developing fetal brain like that which stops its development with the result that babies are born with microcephaly or small heads.
The break-through came about using non-pregnant mice and injecting them with a vaccine developed for the job. When they became pregnant they were given the Zika virus and the pups showed no sign of the disease when born.
As this dreadful virus now affects over 50 countries and is spreading fast throughout the world the solution cannot come soon enough. The question is, however, will it work on humans? Few human trials have been conducted so far.
The next question is how many will want to be vaccinated? Many are so opposed to vaccines because of ignorance regarding imagined side-effects, religious indoctrination against them, and/or for other reasons. When mothers in a well-informed country like Australia are turned off from vaccinating their children against killer diseases one wonders.
Professor of Medicine, Michael S Diamond, of Washington State University, School of Medicine in St. Louie, is the study's co-senior author. He notes that two substantially different vaccines have provided substantial protection.
During the study groups of 18 to 20 mice were injected with the vaccine or a placebo. One month later some received a second dose. Three weeks later the antibodies in their blood were measured as a test of their immunity. The results showed that both vaccines worked to establish a high percentage of neutralising antibodies against the virus but the ones with the placebo had not.
After pregnancy they were infected six days later, in accord with how a human mother would be infected if bitten by a mosquito early in her pregnancy. The amount of detectable viral matter in the unvaccinated mice was hundred times greater than in those that had been vaccinated. This is an exciting break-through.
It is noted that most doctors are reluctant to vaccinate anyone during pregnancy on the off-chance that the immune system will be compromised and harm the baby. There are many questions still to be answered before celebrations are called warranted. To begin with the pregnancy of mice is 19 days as opposed to nine months in humans.
There is also a possibility that infection can occur during sexual contact with a male. Semen does not pass through the blood-stream and can travel via the uterus to the foetus. This is something that Diamond and his team are still working on. Meanwhile the situation continues to grow worse in countries where breeding mosquitoes will again flourish as summer comes to the Southern Hemisphere.
The break-through came about using non-pregnant mice and injecting them with a vaccine developed for the job. When they became pregnant they were given the Zika virus and the pups showed no sign of the disease when born.
As this dreadful virus now affects over 50 countries and is spreading fast throughout the world the solution cannot come soon enough. The question is, however, will it work on humans? Few human trials have been conducted so far.
The next question is how many will want to be vaccinated? Many are so opposed to vaccines because of ignorance regarding imagined side-effects, religious indoctrination against them, and/or for other reasons. When mothers in a well-informed country like Australia are turned off from vaccinating their children against killer diseases one wonders.
Professor of Medicine, Michael S Diamond, of Washington State University, School of Medicine in St. Louie, is the study's co-senior author. He notes that two substantially different vaccines have provided substantial protection.
During the study groups of 18 to 20 mice were injected with the vaccine or a placebo. One month later some received a second dose. Three weeks later the antibodies in their blood were measured as a test of their immunity. The results showed that both vaccines worked to establish a high percentage of neutralising antibodies against the virus but the ones with the placebo had not.
After pregnancy they were infected six days later, in accord with how a human mother would be infected if bitten by a mosquito early in her pregnancy. The amount of detectable viral matter in the unvaccinated mice was hundred times greater than in those that had been vaccinated. This is an exciting break-through.
It is noted that most doctors are reluctant to vaccinate anyone during pregnancy on the off-chance that the immune system will be compromised and harm the baby. There are many questions still to be answered before celebrations are called warranted. To begin with the pregnancy of mice is 19 days as opposed to nine months in humans.
There is also a possibility that infection can occur during sexual contact with a male. Semen does not pass through the blood-stream and can travel via the uterus to the foetus. This is something that Diamond and his team are still working on. Meanwhile the situation continues to grow worse in countries where breeding mosquitoes will again flourish as summer comes to the Southern Hemisphere.