Study Published in Science Shows Dengue Immunity May Reduce Risk of Zika
Infectious disease
Vector-borne disease
Previous infections with dengue virus may have protected some people in an urban slum in Brazil from getting Zika.
In a study of more than 1,400 people in the Pau da Lima area of Salvador, those with higher levels of antibodies against a particular dengue virus protein were at lower risk of contracting Zika, researchers report in the Feb. 8 Science.
“The Zika pandemic has created overall high rates of immunity to this virus in the Americas, which will be a barrier for outbreaks in coming years,” said Isabel Rodriguez-Barraquer, an assistant professor at University of California, San Francisco.