Advances in Zika virus vaccines and therapeutics: A systematic review

Zika virus (ZIKV) is the causative agent of a viral infection that causes neurological complications in newborns and adults worldwide. Its wide transmission route and alarming spread rates are of great concern to the scientific community. Numerous trials have been conducted to develop treatment opti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine
Main Authors: Shiza Malik, Khalid Muhammad, Omar Ahsan, Muhammad Tahir Khan, Ranjit Sah, Yasir Waheed
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.4103/apjtm.apjtm_680_23
https://doaj.org/article/f80b04f15eee43f99132220258e97ab6
Description
Summary:Zika virus (ZIKV) is the causative agent of a viral infection that causes neurological complications in newborns and adults worldwide. Its wide transmission route and alarming spread rates are of great concern to the scientific community. Numerous trials have been conducted to develop treatment options for ZIKV infection. This review highlights the latest developments in the fields of vaccinology and pharmaceuticals developments for ZIKV infection. A systematic and comprehensive approach was used to gather relevant and up-to-date data so that inferences could be made about the gaps in therapeutic development. The results indicate that several therapeutic interventions are being tested against ZIKV infection, such as DNA vaccines, subunit vaccines, live-attenuated vaccines, virus-vector-based vaccines, inactivated vaccines, virus-like particles, and mRNA-based vaccines. In addition, approved anti-ZIKV drugs that can reduce the global burden are discussed. Although many vaccine candidates for ZIKV are at different stages of development, none of them have received Food and Drug Authority approval for use up to now. The issue of side effects associated with these drugs in vulnerable newborns and pregnant women is a major obstacle in the therapeutic pathway.