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Zika epidemic forcing scientists to rethink assumptions about human biology
April 15, 2016 ?
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Eric Rubin, the Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, spoke recently about the outbreak with Madeline Drexler...
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What are your biggest scientific questions about Zika?
First, what is the risk to the fetus in pregnant women? Are the brain abnormalities such as microcephaly and other conditions in the fetus happening in 1 percent of infections or 100 percent of infections? If women get infected early in pregnancy, is that better or worse than late in pregnancy? Finally, is asymptomatic infection associated with risk to the fetus? If it is, then this outbreak will be even more of a disaster than it already is.
Second, are there other health issues in the children of mothers who were infected?problems that are less severe than microcephaly, more subtle abnormalities such as developmental delays?
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What are the challenges in designing a vaccine for Zika?
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The biggest challenge is making a vaccine that?s safe. In particular, is it safe in the target population for the vaccine: pregnant women? If you target young women or women just before or at childbearing age, then you have to be sure it?s safe in pregnancy. We don?t tend to test new drugs in pregnancy.
...
April 15, 2016 ?
...
Eric Rubin, the Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, spoke recently about the outbreak with Madeline Drexler...
...
What are your biggest scientific questions about Zika?
First, what is the risk to the fetus in pregnant women? Are the brain abnormalities such as microcephaly and other conditions in the fetus happening in 1 percent of infections or 100 percent of infections? If women get infected early in pregnancy, is that better or worse than late in pregnancy? Finally, is asymptomatic infection associated with risk to the fetus? If it is, then this outbreak will be even more of a disaster than it already is.
Second, are there other health issues in the children of mothers who were infected?problems that are less severe than microcephaly, more subtle abnormalities such as developmental delays?
...
What are the challenges in designing a vaccine for Zika?
...
The biggest challenge is making a vaccine that?s safe. In particular, is it safe in the target population for the vaccine: pregnant women? If you target young women or women just before or at childbearing age, then you have to be sure it?s safe in pregnancy. We don?t tend to test new drugs in pregnancy.
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