Chikungunya Human Vaccine Closer to Reality

Scientists in the U.S. say a vaccine that masquerades as chikungunya virus might work against the mosquito-borne disease.

There is no known vaccine or treatment for the disease, which has infected millions of people in Africa and Asia and can cause debilitating pain and, in extreme cases, death.

Chikungunya - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment. FAQs
Chikungunya is a viral disease spread by mosquito bites; it causes fever, severe joint pain and rash on the body. Chikungunya occurs in Africa, Asia and the Indian sub continent.

Gary Nabel of the US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and his research team put genes that code for the virus's protein coat into cultured human cells.

The proteins assembled themselves into virus-like particles (VLPs), which mimic the virus but aren't infectious.

"We got structures that beautifully replicated the natural virus," New Scientist quoted Nabel as saying.

New Vaccine Prevents Chikungunya in Monkeys, Mice: Study
An experimental vaccine provided 100 percent protection against the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus in primates and mice, offering hope it will work for humans too, a new study found.

Rhesus monkeys injected with the VLPs produced antibodies that gave them complete protection against the virus.

Their antibodies also worked for immune-deficient mice that are normally killed by chikungunya.

First Animal Model of Chikungunya Developed
The first animal model of the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), linked with large-scale epidemics that spread to Italy and India in 2007 has been developed by Researchers.

Nabel says the next step is human testing and hopes that will be done in one to three years.

The study has published in Nature Medicine.

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Source-ANI
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