Successful testing of 3 Zika virus vaccine samples

This advance will raise hopes that an effective and safe vaccine for humans will be successfully produced.

Since the Zika virus was discovered in Brazil in late 2015, it has been spreading and threatening to spread globally. Meanwhile, experts are still working hard to find vaccines and solutions to help prevent this epidemic.

And scientists appear to have made major progress toward producing an effective vaccine against the Zika virus.

More specifically, the test with not 1 but 3 types of vaccines has shown positive results in protecting monkeys from this dangerous virus. Now, experts are confident in testing the vaccine on humans.

Tests on 20 monkeys have shown that all experimental vaccines completely protected them from Zika virus infection just one month after being injected.

However, how long these vaccines can protect them requires further testing.

Dan Barouch of Harvard University (USA) - head of the research team shared: "These three vaccines provide a complete layer of protection against Zika virus in primates. This step will increase the hope that an effective and safe vaccine for humans will be successfully produced."

The vaccines being tested are a collaboration between the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.

An immunologist at Imperial College London said the results of the monkey experiment were "positive steps forward" but it would take more time to determine whether it would be effective in humans.

Ed Wright, a virologist at the University of Westminster who was not involved in the research, told the BBC: "All the vaccines currently in development are likely to be years away from being licensed and widely available to the public." So until then, it's important to protect yourself.

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that is spreading across South and Central America. One of the most dangerous symptoms of Zika is when it is present in the body of a pregnant woman - it will affect the fetus and the baby will be born with microcephaly.

This developmental disorder will reduce the size of the child's skull and lead to a less intelligent brain, reducing the child's life expectancy. This symptom cannot be cured and the child is almost affected by this malformation for life.

Researchers hope to have a clinical trial of the vaccine launched later this year.

According to Young Knowledge