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Malone RW, Homan J, Callahan MV, Glasspool-Malone J, Damodaran L, Schneider ADB, Zimler R, Talton J, Cobb RR, Ruzic I, Smith-Gagen J, Janies D, Wilson J. Zika Virus: Medical Countermeasure Development Challenges. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016; 10:e0004530. [PMID: 26934531 PMCID: PMC4774925 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Reports of high rates of primary microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia and Brazil have raised concerns that the virus circulating in these regions is a rapidly developing neuropathic, teratogenic, emerging infectious public health threat. There are no licensed medical countermeasures (vaccines, therapies or preventive drugs) available for Zika virus infection and disease. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) predicts that Zika virus will continue to spread and eventually reach all countries and territories in the Americas with endemic Aedes mosquitoes. This paper reviews the status of the Zika virus outbreak, including medical countermeasure options, with a focus on how the epidemiology, insect vectors, neuropathology, virology and immunology inform options and strategies available for medical countermeasure development and deployment. METHODS Multiple information sources were employed to support the review. These included publically available literature, patents, official communications, English and Lusophone lay press. Online surveys were distributed to physicians in the US, Mexico and Argentina and responses analyzed. Computational epitope analysis as well as infectious disease outbreak modeling and forecasting were implemented. Field observations in Brazil were compiled and interviews conducted with public health officials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert W. Malone
- RW Malone MD LLC, Scottsville, Virginia, United States of America
- Class of 2016, Harvard Medical School Global Clinical Scholars Research Training Program, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Jane Homan
- ioGenetics, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Michael V. Callahan
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Jill Glasspool-Malone
- RW Malone MD LLC, Scottsville, Virginia, United States of America
- Class of 2016, Harvard Medical School Global Clinical Scholars Research Training Program, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Lambodhar Damodaran
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Adriano De Bernardi Schneider
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Rebecca Zimler
- University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Vero Beach, Florida, United States of America
| | - James Talton
- Nanotherapeutics, NANO-ADM Advanced Development and Manufacturing Center, Alachua, Florida, United States of America
| | - Ronald R. Cobb
- Nanotherapeutics, NANO-ADM Advanced Development and Manufacturing Center, Alachua, Florida, United States of America
| | - Ivan Ruzic
- Analytical Outcomes, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Julie Smith-Gagen
- School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, United States of America
| | - Daniel Janies
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - James Wilson
- Nevada Center for Infectious Disease Forecasting, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, United States of America
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