Three experimental Zika vaccines protected monkeys against infection from the virus, an encouraging sign as research moves into studies in people.
The success in monkeys, which involved a traditional vaccine and two more cutting-edge ones, “brings us one step closer to a safe and effective Zika vaccine,” said Dr. Dan Barouch of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Barouch and others reported the results in a paper released Thursday by the journal Science. One of the vaccines is expected to enter preliminary human studies this year.
Efforts to develop a vaccine began after a massive Zika outbreak last year in Brazil, which showed that infection of pregnant women can harm fetal brain development.
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