Pitt School of Medicine creates vaccine that could put an end to the transmission of Zika virus

The Zika virus has made its way to 50 nations with the United States and its territories, reporting more than 6,400 different cases. The virus is especially dangerous for women who are pregnant, whose babies are susceptible to Guillan-Barre syndrome and microcephaly. In light of the reports of Zika-infected mosquitos in Florida, the federal government has allocated $1.1 billion for Zika research,

Luckily, the fight against the virus progressed yesterday, and it’s all thanks to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who have created a vaccine that could put an end to the congenital transmission of Zika virus.

Researchers there received the results from two of their trial vaccines, which were given to mice infected with the Zika virus. One of the two vaccines had a 100 percent success rate with stopping the passing of the virus from the mother to her pups.

Dr. Andrea Gambotto, an associate professor at the medical school, said that not only is the vaccine promising, but it is also a relatively inexpensive method of treatment for people of all incomes.

However, it may be some time before a vaccine becomes available for human use. While Pitt’s vaccine has already been tested on mice, it must also be tested on monkeys. If it is cleared after that stage, it could then potentially be used for human tests. Developing the vaccine requires little to no trouble, because of the previous development of similar vaccines that have been used to treat other diseases, such as yellow fever.

Dr. Gambotto and her team released the study on Monday, which showed that “pups born to mice immunized with [the more reliable vaccine] were all protected against lethal challenge infection without weight loss or neurological signs.”

The Pitt community is extremely thankful for our top-ranked medical school, and I’m confident that those affected by the Zika virus will be better off because of Dr. Gambotto and her team.