A vaccine effective against Zika virus is theoretically possible but may not be delivered anytime soon

Taylor-Robinson, Andrew W

The positive news is that the latest clinical trial of an experimental dengue vaccine, TV003, has proved 100% effective, albeit a small scale volunteer challenge study of only the dengue-2 serotype performed under highly controlled conditions. 36 While this is no doubt a significant breakthrough in the ongoing fight against dengue, as an offshoot of this success it is hoped that a modified version of the live attenuated construct may be developed in order to treat the related Zika virus. This head start may accelerate production of a candidate Zika vaccine but will not truncate its potentially arduous journey through clinical trials. During this time, scientists, clinicians, and health care professionals all should be attentive to stress the standard caveats and qualifications to the outcomes of any study, so not to augment the plethora of misinformation that concerns Zika by implying, however unintentionally, that a vaccine is forthcoming anytime soon. 17, 31