Zika Virus: Link with Two Disorders Expected to Be Confirmed Within Weeks

WHO’s assistant director general Marie-Paule Kieny at news briefing in Geneva on Friday. Photograph: Pierre Albouy/Reuters

Vaccines at least 18 months off, WHO says, as scientists work to determine if virus causes microcephaly and Guillain-Barré

theguardian.com - February 12, 2016

The World Health Organisation expects the suspected link between the Zika virus and two neurological disorders, microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults, to be established within weeks, a senior official has said.

Marie-Paule Kieny, the WHO’s assistant director general, told a news briefing on Friday: “We have a few more weeks to be sure to demonstrate causality, but the link between Zika and Guillain-Barré is highly probable.”

She said it would take at least 18 months to start clinical trials of potential vaccines on humans, adding: “Two vaccine candidates seem to be more advanced: a DNA vaccine from the US National Institutes of Health; and an inactivated product from Bharat Biotech, in India.”

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)