Zika virus trial vaccine could be ready this year, experts say Kenya is safe

An Aedes Aegypti mosquito which is a vector of the Zika virus. PHOTO | MARVIN RECINOS |  AFP

By STELLAR MURUMBA, smurumba@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• US health officials say efforts to create a Zika vaccine are getting “somewhere” from lessons learned during earlier battles against other mosquito-borne viruses.
• Kenyan health experts say no reported cases in Africa so far and that there is no cause to worry.
• The Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, which are vectors of the virus, bite both at night and during the day.

A Zika vaccine could be ready for clinical trial as soon as this this year, but will likely take years before the vaccine is ready for the market, US health officials have said.

The Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, was speaking to CBS news and journalists from the international media.

Dr Fauci said efforts to create a Zika vaccine are getting “somewhere” from lessons learned during earlier battles against other mosquito-borne viruses.

“We are working on two potential vaccines, each based on earlier vaccines created in response to prior outbreaks of West Nile virus and dengue.

“It is to our advantage that we already have existing vaccine platforms to use as a sort of jumping-off point but it is important to understand that we will not have a widely available safe and effective Zika vaccine this year, and probably not even in the next few years,” said Dr Fauci.

The World Health Organization Thursday held a special forum on the Zika virus which it says is most likely to spread to not only most countries in Americas but also across the globe.

Kenya "safe"

Kenya health experts however say that the country is “safe”.

The head of disease surveillance and response unit, Ian Njeru, said that the real concern of the virus - which is named after the Zika forest in Uganda where it was first discovered - is the microcephaly (a brain disorder) condition in babies born with it but which in itself is very mild.

Babies with the condition have abnormally small heads, resulting in developmental issues and in some cases, death.

“The virus is very mild. Four out five victims survive. So far we do not have any reported cases in Africa and we should not worry so much about it,” said Dr Njeru in a television interview.

WHO Chief Margaret Chan said, meanwhile, that Zika is "spreading explosively" and it could affect many countries in the world including Kenya.

Dr Chan said in the special gathering that preventing mosquitoes from breeding and protecting yourself from mosquito bites is the best protection.