3-D representation of Zika virionWIKIMEDIA, MANUEL ALMAGRO RIVAS
Previous exposure to dengue virus could dampen a patient’s immune response to Zika, and potentially even aid infection, according to recent work carried out by US researchers. In a study published today (August 18) in Science Immunology, the team found that an early memory B cell response to Zika infection in patients who had already been exposed to dengue produced weak antibodies against Zika virus in vitro.
“It’s an important paper,” says Davide Robbiani, who studies cross-reactivity in antibodies for dengue and Zika virus at Rockefeller University, but was not involved in the current study. “It broadens our knowledge of the antibody responses to these viruses and informs how vaccines should be designed.”
At the structural level, Zika virus shows substantial similarities to dengue, another ...
