Dengue fever epidemics are common in Taiwan during the summer, and cases of Japanese encephalitis are also heard from time to time. Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, and Zika virus are all “flaviviruses” transmitted by mosquito vectors. Why has there never been a local Zika outbreak? The latest national research highlights that neutralizing antibodies that can inhibit the Zika virus have been found in people who have been infected with dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis, which will be useful for vaccine development strategies.
The Zika virus has never been widespread in Taiwan. Could it be related to the dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis epidemics? In fact, dengue fever and the Zika virus are both transmitted by Aedes a Egypti mosquitoes and, if bitten by vector mosquitoes, cause symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, headache, general weakness and measles-like symptoms. -spotted house mosquito, Albus albus Linear spots spread, and serious symptoms such as headache, high fever, seizures, convulsions, or coma may occur.
Zhao Daiyu, professor at the Institute of Microbiology and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, led a research team that recently published the latest research results on the Zika virus in the biomedical journal “Communications Biology” .Taiwanese infected with dengue virus who have been previously infected with Japanese encephalitis virus or vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis have been found to induce Zika virus-neutralizing antibodies in their bodies, which can inhibit at least 6 types of flavivirus including the Zika virus.
Antibodies produced by dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis infection
Zhao Daiyu explained that Taiwan included the Zika virus in the infectious disease reporting system in 2016, but there has never been a local pandemic. To clarify whether this is the case, the study included 60 people infected with dengue fever and 80 people who were uninfected with dengue fever in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. For comparison, people with the virus were divided into two groups: those who had been vaccinated and those who had not been vaccinated against the Japanese encephalitis vaccine.
The results showed that two monoclonal antibodies with the strongest protective power were found in patients recovered from dengue fever infection and could fight at least 6 flaviviruses simultaneously, including dengue virus types 1 and 4, Zika virus and Japanese encephalitis has a higher antibody immune response to the Zika virus than normal, healthy people: this is the first research result found in the world.
Research also proves thisIf the patient has been infected with Japanese encephalitis (including vaccination) and dengue virus at the same time, the patient’s body will produce more obvious broadly neutralizing antibodies, which have cross-protection against the Zika virus.The value of the results provided by this study will further identify the mechanism by which the antibody has broad protective power and will have an important impact on the future development of dengue fever vaccines and Zika virus vaccines.
Taiwan has never had a local Zika outbreak
Zhao Daiyu pointed out that the Zika virus has caused large-scale epidemics in Central and South America, and has also caused epidemics in Asian countries such as Thailand and Singapore, and after being infected with the Zika virus, it can cause serious injury to the neonatal cerebellum.However, there has never been a local Zika epidemic in Taiwan, and Taiwanese are generally vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis at birth. “The findings of this research may explain why the Zika virus infection rate in Taiwan is relatively low.”
He further explained that in areas where flaviviruses are common, when evaluating the efficiency of resources invested in public health diseases, the response of such broadly neutralizing antibodies should be considered, so as not to overestimate the prevalence of the disease and invest the wrong resources. Research and development management. This is also the importance of what this study provides in terms of findings related to flavivirus infection.
Subsequent impact on vaccine development
However, research is still limited: currently neutralizing antibodies have only been found in one patient, aged around 60, who was naturally infected with Japanese encephalitis and dengue fever.Further research is needed in the future to demonstrate the persistence and breadth of antibody protection and whether clinical trials can be conducted with the Japanese encephalitis vaccine and the dengue virus vaccine to induce antibodies.
Based on the results of this study, Yu Guanyi, a research associate at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines of the National Institutes of Health, added that to reduce infection with Zika, dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis virus , suitability In the future it will be possible to evaluate vaccines against dengue at the same time and to establish whether the Zika virus also has good protection we will be able to provide appropriate suggestions for future vaccination strategies.
Yu Guanyi believes that until a safe and effective dengue fever vaccine is available, avoiding mosquito bites and preparing for the prevention and control of Aedes in Egypti will be the main positive actions that can be taken in areas with high risk, capable of simultaneously reducing the Zika virus and the possibility of spreading the dengue virus.
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This article is reprinted with permission from “Youhuo Health Network”. The original text is “Why was the Zika virus never spread to Taiwan?” Experts reveal that the “truth” is linked to dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis
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