Vaccines against chikungunya, Zika and other emerging Aedes mosquito-borne viruses: unblocking existing bottlenecks

The emergence of Aedes mosquito-borne viral diseases is a global public health challenge.
Since mosquito control programs are not highly efficient for outbreak containment, vaccines
are essential to limit disease burden. Besides yellow fever vaccines, a vaccine against dengue
is now available, while research on vaccines against Zika has just started. Several vaccine
candidates against chikungunya are undergoing preclinical studies, and few of them have
been tested in Phase II trials. To overcome hurdles and speed-up the development of
vaccines against these viral diseases, several actions should be planned: first, the ‘animal rule’
could be considered for regulatory purposes; second, public–private partnership should be
stimulated; third, countries, international organizations and donors commitment should be
strengthened, and potential markets identified.