The significant presence of Aedes mosquitoes in the Americas reinforces the potential dissemination of the zika virus (ZIKV) in the continent. Outbreaks have already happened in different parts of the world. In addition, the global-scale dissemination of chikungunya and dengue fever in urban settings should also be a warning sign for a possible ZIKV epidemic. Vaccination would be an important form of disease control, but vaccines for this disease are not yet available.
In this context, the Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos (Bio-Manguinhos) is attempting to develop an anti-ZIKV vaccine through the study of different technology platforms. The goal of the project is to create a vaccine starting with the approach of using attenuated recombined zika virus and to develop the production and quality control processes for vaccine approaches under study.