US vaccine offers hope to treat Chikungunya
Kounteya Sinha, TNN Aug 15, 2011, 05.30am ISTTags:University of Wisconsin|University of Texas
NEW DELHI: The world could soon have an effective vaccine against Chikungunya — the viral disease characterized by high fever lasting between seven and 10 days and excruciatingly painful joints for over three months. India has been seeing explosive outbreaks of this mosquito-borne disease which came to the country in 2006 after a gap of 32 years.

Researchers from the University of Texas, Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Alabama have successfully created a new experimental vaccine against the Chikungunya virus.

A single dose of the experimental vaccine protected lab mice from infection with the virus, according to a paper published online in the journal PLoS Pathogens. Currently, there is no treatment or vaccine for Chikungunya and it has to be tackled with paracetamol and fluids.