The study protocol will be discussed during the Ethics Committee session at the end of July: approval expected by early September.
Soon afterwards, Francesco Bonfante will start the ex vivo infection of placental explants, at the IZSVe, virology laboratory directed by Calogero (Lillo) Terregino.
Also, the Italian Ministry of Health officially approved the import from BEI Resources, US, of a Zika strain isolated from a human placenta. This strain will be used for the infection of placental explants to determine the phenotype of infection in the presence/absence of cross-reactive non-neutralizing antibodies.
