Zika vaccines give complete protection against virus in monkeys!

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Making a step closed to developing a safe and effective vaccine against Zika virus, a team of researchers claimed positive results in the latest study in monkeys.

The researchers found that all the three experimental vaccines, when tested on rhesus monkeys gave complete protection against infection with the virus.

In the study, the scientists used three different approaches often used in vaccine development - one was an inactive, and therefore harmless, replica of the virus and two others used parts of the Zika virus's genetic code., reported the BBC.

Also, scientists said none of the three was linked to major side effects.

However, it would take years before any of the vaccines is available for widespread use.

The results were "striking," said study co-author Dr Dan Barouch, a professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.

It is said that one of the three vaccines, dubbed ZPIV, will be pregressing to clinical trials.

Scientists hope to start early trials in humans to find out if these vaccines are safe for use.

The findings published in Science mark a further promising step forward in the search for a vaccine against the Zika virus.