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Zika Virus Vaccine Ready For Testing, Outbreak Needs To Happen

By Abbie Kraft | Update Date: Feb 28, 2017 06:47 PM EST

Zika virus was an epidemic last year wherein thousands of residents of South America were affected, especially those in Brazil. A new research emerged and scientists already came up with a vaccine, but it was mentioned that they need a new outbreak for the vaccines to be tested.

Scientists have already come up with a vaccine for the dreaded Zika virus, which plagued South America and other countries. Zika virus causes microcephaly among women wherein their babies would be born with smaller heads as it remains undeveloped all throughout the years.

According to NPR's report, a vaccine for the Zika virus is already made available, but scientists declare that an outbreak needs to happen for them to know if the vaccines were indeed effective. It was mentioned that the researchers need a bigger scale for their human trial for them to formally weigh the effectivity of the vaccine.

It may seem unusual for the scientists to opt for another outbreak, Anthony Fauci explained, however, that having another Zika outbreak can potentially expedite their research process. It was mentioned that the faster the outbreak would take place, the sooner they'll get to have a resolution in terms of the vaccines' effectivity.

 "On one hand, you don't want to see outbreaks of infection," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases stated during an interview. "But on the other hand, [without that testing] you might have to wait a long time to make sure that the vaccine works."

In a study published in the Cell Press Nucleus, it was mentioned that the vaccine is still in Phase I clinical trial where it is only tested with a small group. The next round of human trial is yet to take place but researchers are already keeping their hopes up that they would finally be able to come up with a vaccine for the Zika virus.

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