Highlighting our work this #WorldImmunizationWeek

Posted on: 24 April 2025 in Community

This World Immunization Week we want to highlight the work of our very own immunisation academics.

Our team, led by Dr Kris Subramaniam, is working to bring a Zika vaccine to those in lower socio-economic indexes, in the populations most at risk. 3.9 billion people live in regions endemic to flaviviruses like Zika, yet there is currently no licensed vaccine.

By creating a safe-to-use, universally accessible Zika vaccine, Dr Subramaniam’s team are working to ensure proactivity in the face of future endemics, and secure healthier and more fruitful lives for women and children who live in Zika-exposed populations.

Zika is the only sexually transmitted flavivirus, causing life-limiting symptoms for babies if contracted during pregnancy, including Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS), which has a mortality rate of 52.6 deaths per 1000 person-years (the rate among those without is 5.6). Microcephaly is seen in two-thirds of children with CZS, which requires a lifetime of care, limiting prospects for those caring for the child. It also causes stillbirths, prematurity, and foetal loss.

Unlike other Zika vaccines in development, the Liverpool vaccine is predicted to be safe for pregnant women and the immunosuppressed and will be effective to use in countries where other viruses (such as dengue) co-circulate. Research into the vaccine is currently in Phase 1 at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. Not only will successful outcomes bring investment and infrastructure to the Liverpool City Region, but they will allow us to continue our national partnerships with the University of Oxford and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Dr Subramaniam is an infection immunologist at The Pandemic Institute. The Pandemic Institute was set up in 2021 by a consortium of health, academic, civic and business organisations in the city, including the University of Liverpool, John Moore's University, Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the City Council and the Combined Authority.