Some experts have expressed a major concern that a future Zika vaccine could inadvertently incite more instances of the autoimmune condition Guillain-Barré syndrome, according to an article in Scientific American.
Here are three things to know about Zika, its relationship to GBS and the potential pitfalls of a future vaccine.
1. GBS, a disease that can weaken muscles and cause paralysis, can be caused by exposure to Zika, as confirmed by the WHO. Cases of this disease have been cropping up in regions where the virus has proliferated. Like a flu or polio vaccine, a vaccination for Zika would need to contain some form of the virus. Experts and epidemiologists have expressed worry that such an exposure could potentially lead to an increased risk of GBS in the patient. "It's a serious issue," Nicholas Jackson, PhD, vice president and head of global research at Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of a French pharmaceutical company, told the American. "Understanding the cause of GBS is going to be very important for vaccine development."
2. Two competing theories currently exist in regards to why Zika can bring about GBS. One is that GBS is produced by self-attacking immune system response due to the body's encounter with Zika. The other is that Zika directly attacks neural cells and destabilizes them, inciting GBS. The former is more troubling when thinking about vaccine development because controlling immune response can prove very difficult.
3. Scientists are currently scrambling to forestall the growing threat the Zika pandemic. The issue at hand is what level of risk will be acceptable as vaccine production moves forward. Because, as Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, put it to the Scientific American, "The risk of not having a vaccine overwhelms the risk of GBS." At a Zika summit earlier this week, Dr. Fauci reportedly said, "I have this ominous feeling we have yet to see the worst of [Zika]."
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