• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
      Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
    • It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
      It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
    • What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
      What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • No image
      Pentimento’s Open Mic is Like an Old Patchwork Quilt–Worn, Yet Cozy
    • No image
      Kanye’s Antisemitism Steps on his Shoe Brand
    • Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
      Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
      Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
    • Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
      Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
    • The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
      The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Elinor Higgins Eye on Science, Features, News and FeaturesSeptember 14, 2016

Progress on Zika vaccine inches forward while funding stalls

Aedes species of mosquito | Photo courtesy of The New York Times & Felipe Dana of the Associated Press

The Zika virus continues to dominate the news cycle as new information emerges about its effects, its transmission and attempt to find a cure.

Zika is a virus transmitted through infected mosquitoes of the Aedes species. It has recently been found that the virus can also be transmitted sexually. Though the virus usually causes an unpleasant, feverish disease similar to dengue fever, it is manageable in many groups. For many people, however, the most concerning aspect of Zika is the effect it has on unborn fetuses. If a pregnant person contracts the virus it can be transmitted to the fetus with very serious repercussions, namely microcephaly.

Microcephaly is a brain abnormality and birth defect in which the brain and head of a fetus develop to be significantly smaller than the average size. Babies that are born with microcephaly tend to have intellectual disabilities, are prone to seizures and have poor motor skills. Due to this threat, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) began issuing warnings in January of this year for people who were pregnant or planning on getting pregnant. These warnings have been clarified and updated many times subsequently due to confusion and a concern that the organizations are policing women’s bodies.

Because the virus is most common in a swath of countries around the equator, the current WHO policy is that couples in these countries should have access to birth control and receive information regarding the potential risks of becoming pregnant while Zika is a threat. The CDC has campaigned for contraceptive donations to Puerto Rico from corporations in the United States and has advised that pregnant women avoid traveling to high-risk countries.

Unfortunately, the danger of Zika infection and microcephaly cannot always be forestalled. It has been discovered that the virus can stay active in sperm for up to six months after infection, even if the infection is devoid of symptoms or if the person has recovered.

Many drug and vaccination companies are rushing to research a Zika vaccine, but the product cannot be realistically expected for several years. One issue researchers face is administering the vaccination to pregnant people. This means that the ideal vaccine would be of the inactive variety, meaning that the viral particle used to stimulate an immune response would be grown in a lab and then killed off before being used in the vaccine. And, like in any drug or vaccine development, there is a stringent process for gaining approval to actually produce and distribute the treatment. This involves multiple trials that last for years to test for longer range effects. Other prevention techniques include genetic recombination, which makes the virus inactive through a modification to its genetic material (often RNA).

Of course, these long range trials also require funding, and there is currently a crisis in funding for Zika research and prevention. The CDC has been bankrolling many research projects and efforts to spray for the Aedes mosquitoes in places like Florida. However, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the head of the agency, recently told reporters the CDC had spent $194 million of the $222 million allocated to fight Zika. Congress scheduled a vote to allocate more funds to fighting and researching the virus, but it was blocked due to political concerns about additional attachments to the bill. The attachments included a stipulation that Planned Parenthood could not contribute to the effort to provide contraception and education surrounding the sexual transmission of Zika. This has made the issue of Zika funding profoundly political, and has contributed to the stall in fund replenishment.

The National Institutes of Health, as well as several international corporations and private companies, have begun testing of potential vaccines. Inovio Pharmaceuticals has one that is approved for human trials in 2016. Moving forward, the issues of funding will be continually revisited and the world will wait for results of the clinical trials that have begun in the search for a vaccine.

 

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleOffice of Disability Services involves professors and community members to educate about accessibility
Next articleStudent teacher internship promotes studies on early child development in CSC

You may also like

Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”

CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure

WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top