To date there are no treatments for the Zika virus, which exploded into an epidemic in Brazil last year and has begun spreading to other countries such as the U.S. Amid this, a report from Medical Xpress reveals that the University of Hawaii in Honolulu has been approved to import live Zika virus speciment to begin development of a vaccine.
According to the report, the State Board of Agriculture of Hawaii has just approved the university's petition to bring in live specimen of the virus in order to further understand how the virus works and what connections it has to the development of microcephaly, a condition that impedes head growth in infants, leading to impairments caused by the lack of room for the brain.
It is further explained that one of the mysteries of the Zika virus is how it triggers microcephaly for some but not all. The report points out that in 2015 two pregnant women were infected by the Zika virus but when they gave birth only one of them had a child with microcephaly.
How and why only one of the infants developed microcephaly despite both mothers being infected with the Zika virus is reportedly one of the main mysteries the researchers aim to solve as they develop a proper vaccine.
Chair of the John A. Burns School of Medicine Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology, Dr. Vivek Nerurkar, explained that Hawaii was an ideal location to conduct research and vaccine development particularly due to the fact that Hawaii is an international tourist spot and home to incoming and outgoing diseases.
"I think this is a tremendous asset for the State of Hawaii. Our faculty, experts in virology and vaccines, also have a proven track record of collaboration with other institutions on the U.S. mainland. I believe strongly in collaborations and in hoping that these collaborations will lead to new vaccines," explained Nerurkar in the report.
