It is a broad-spectrum vaccine targeting dengue, Zika, yellow fever, West Nile virus, and other flaviviruses, which cause over 100,000 deaths annually.
Experts in virology, immunology, biotechnology, and public health from ten institutions across seven European countries and the United States have come together to develop, over the next three years, an innovative vaccine, called Flavivaccine,against mosquito-borne flaviviruses with epidemic potential, such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and West Nile virus.
“Currently, there are no effective vaccines against several mosquito-borne flaviviruses with pandemic potential and, in cases where they do exist (such as the dengue vaccine), they often have limitations in terms of safety, efficacy, or accessibility,” explains Joana Tavares, researcher at i3S and Assistant Professor at ICBAS, who will lead the Portuguese team. She assures that Flavivaccine “has the potential to address these issues by providing a safe, effective, flexible, and rapidly deployable platform.”
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Source: Notícias UP; Image: Unsplash.