A public health concern
Zikavirus has been identified for the past several decades in African and Asian regions; however large-scale epidemics have only been reported in the past decade. While some do not get sick, most people who contract the virus experience fever, rash and joint pain that lasts for a few days.
In addition, the possible association of Zika with malformations in infants is particularly alarming, as the consequences are severe and long-lasting.
寨卡病毒感染的主要公共卫生问题是病毒与先天缺陷之间的关联是关于明显增加头部异常小的婴儿（微脑膜）和不良理解的免疫疾病（Guillain-Barre综合征）的报道。
微脑病例的增加与巴西寨卡病毒感染激增相一致。
微脑病例的增加与巴西寨卡病毒感染激增相一致。最近的研究还证实了该病毒在携带胎儿带有微脑的孕妇的羊水中存在病毒，以及新生儿和胎儿脑组织中寨卡病毒病毒的证据。
Mosquito-borne viruses
寨卡病毒与其他蚊子传播病毒有关，包括登革热病毒，日本脑炎病毒，西尼罗河病毒和黄热病病毒。尽管日本脑炎病毒和黄热病病毒的疫苗已经使用了半个多世纪，但登革热疫苗仍在进行临床试验。
Because these mosquito-borne viruses are closely related, the induced immunity may cross-react with other viruses of the same flavivirus group. With dengue vaccine, vaccine development first started with vaccine derived from mouse brain approximately 70 years ago.
Because these mosquito-borne viruses are closely related, the induced immunity may cross-react with other viruses of the same flavivirus group.
An effective dengue vaccine must be able to elicit protective immunity to protect against all four dengue virus serotypes. However, cross-reactive immunity plays acompeting role in dengue: in neutralizing levels, the immunity protects against disease but at immunity at non-neutralizing levels is associated with severe dengue.
As there are no reports of cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses leading to severe Zika virus infections, little is known on the consequences of these cross-reactive immunity.
For dengue, four different antigen components from each of the four serotypes are required to elicit an immune response to all of the four serotypes. For other flaviviruses that consist of a single serotype, ie Japanese encephalitis and Yellow fever, vaccines have largely contributed to disease control in various regions of the world.
There is no vaccine for Zika, but unlike dengue, there is only one serotype for Zika virus. This may imply that the vaccination strategy for Zika may be less complicated in comparison to dengue.
There is no vaccine for Zika, but unlike dengue, there is only one serotype for Zika virus. This may imply that the vaccination strategy for Zika may be less complicated in comparison to dengue.
Despite this, there are lesser information on Zika in many aspects. And as with dengue, although neutralizing antibodies are considered central in disease protection, the levels of antibodies that offer protection to Zika needs to be determined to gauge how well a vaccine works in disease control.
对寨卡的更好理解
美国国家过敏和传染病研究所（美国）和印度巴拉特生物技术公司（Bharat Biotech）目前正在开发有希望的寨卡疫苗候选者。
The WHO also foresees large scale clinical trials on Zika vaccine within months. In comparison, Sanofi Pasteur has carried out about 20 years of research and clinical trials to develop a dengue vaccine that is currently approved for usage in Mexico.
In the event of this serious global threat, to further accelerate Zika vaccine and therapeutics development, we would need a better understanding on how the virus causes disease and how our immune system protects us from the disease, by leveraging on the strong research platforms of dengue, Japanese Encephalitis and other flavivirus diseases.
注释