Congenital Zika Syndrome
This study was done with women who live in Rio de Janeiro, in the southeast of Brazil, showing that the association is not geographically limited.
It has been suggested that fetal defects might be partly due to the presence of antibodies to dengue virus that cross-react with Zika virus and cause immune-mediated enhancement of disease. Thirty-one percent of the Zika virus positive women in this study were also positive for antibodies to dengue virus, but the paper does not report how these correlate with fetal defects.
These findings, together with results of previous studies showing recovery of the entire Zika virus g...
Source: virology blog - March 9, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information Brazil congenital zika syndrome fetal flavivirus microcephaly mosquito outbreak rubella virus viral viruses Source Type: blogs
“They won’t bite. A biotech company called Intrexon hopes...
"They won't bite. A biotech company called Intrexon hopes these genetically engineered #mosquitoes can help stop the spread of the Zika virus. The insects were developed mainly to fight dengue fever, but Zika is spread by the same type of insect. When the male mosquitoes are released to mate with wild females, the offspring die before reaching adulthood. Now Intrexon — which has ventures ranging from potential cancer cures to cloned kittens — needs to persuade federal agencies, foreign governments and nonprofit health organizations to place orders. It must also counter caution from the @worldhealthorganization and fede...
Source: Kidney Notes - March 7, 2016 Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Joshua Schwimmer Source Type: blogs
Person to person Zika virus transmission
The title of a Eurosurveillance article, “An autochthonous case of Zika due to possible sexual transmission, Florence, Italy, 2014” was written to make the headlines. The title should be “An autochthonous case of Zika due to person to person contact, Florence, Italy, 2014.”
An Italian man returns from a 10 day holiday in Thailand and a day later develops a rash with fever and headache. Within 6 days the rash has subsided. About two weeks later his girlfriend develops a similar disease. As this was 2014 no one looked for Zika virus and both were presumed to have dengue virus infection.
The serum...
Source: virology blog - February 26, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information person to person transmission sex sexual transmission viral virus zika virus Source Type: blogs
10 simple facts about Zika virus
1. Zika is an infectious disease caused by a virus and transmitted by mosquitoes. It is one of four worrisome viral infections that have spread rapidly across the world recently including dengue, chikungunya, and West Nile virus, all of which are transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks. The most dangerous mosquito type is the one that spreads yellow fever (Aedes).
2. Though Zika is mostly spread by mosquito bites, there is emerging evidence that it may be sexually transmitted from men to women (not vice versa) as well as blood transfusions and during labor. The Zika virus can live in urine and saliva but so far there in no evid...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - February 23, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tanu S. Pandey, MD Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Source Type: blogs
Current Wisdom: Swatting Away the Zika/Climate Change Connection
The Current Wisdom is a series of occasional articles in which Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger, from Cato’s Center for the Study of Science, review interesting items on global warming in the scientific literature or of a more technical nature. These items may not have received the media attention that they deserved or have been misinterpreted in the popular press.
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We hardly need a high tech fly-swatter (although they are fun and effective) to kill this nuisance—it’s so languorous that one can just put their thumb over it and squish.
Jeb Bush’s candidacy? No, rather the purported connect...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 19, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Paul C. "Chip" Knappenberger, Patrick J. Michaels Source Type: blogs
TWiV 376: The flavi of the week is Zika
On episode #376 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiV team discusses the latest data on Zika virus, including ocular defects in infants with microcephaly, and isolation of the entire viral genome from fetal brain tissue.
You can find TWiV #376 at microbe.tv/twiv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - February 14, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology Aedes brain congenital rubella syndrome Dengue genome Guillain-Barré microcephaly mosquito ocular defects TORCH viral virus viruses West Nile virus Zika zika virus Source Type: blogs
TWiV 375: Zika and you will find
On episode #375 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVziks present everything you want to know about Zika virus, including association of infection with microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome, transmission, epidemiology, and much more.
You can find TWiV #375 at microbe.tv/twiv. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - February 7, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology Aedes antiviral Brazil Dengue flavivirus GBS Guillain-Barré syndrome microcephaly mosquito vaccine viruses West Nile virus yellow fever virus Zika zika virus Source Type: blogs
Zika
When “Ebola” became a household word for most Americans in 2015, few realized that a more sinister outbreak was unfolding in their own back-yard. Chikungunya, a dengue-like illness which had previously been limited to the jungle areas of Africa and Asia, suddenly appeared in Latin America, resulting in over 2 million cases as of January 2016. And then Zika virus followed in the same region, threatening to attack a similar number of people. Unlike Chikungunya and Dengue, Zika virus infection has now been identified as a major cause of microcephaly (abnormally-small head) and other severe neurological disorders ...
Source: GIDEON blog - February 5, 2016 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Uri Blackman Tags: Cases Epidemiology Examples Maps Source Type: blogs
The potential solution to Zika is hidden in its name
There is no doubt that Zika is causing worldwide hysteria as a rapidly spreading virus with potential of pandemic proportions. The virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also carries both dengue fever and yellow fever.
While a relatively innocuous virus with 80 percent of those affected being asymptomatic, mild symptoms of illness such as fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis are associated. The most worrisome outcome of this virus is the link with microcephaly found in babies born to mothers affected during pregnancy. Microcephaly is a neurologic condition which presents with an abnormally small h...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 29, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Trisha Kadakia, MD Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Source Type: blogs
Zika virus
The rapid spread of Zika virus through the Americas, together with the association of infection with microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome, have propelled this previously ignored virus into the limelight. What is this virus and where did it come from?
History
Zika virus was first identified in 1947 in a sentinel monkey that was being used to monitor for the presence of yellow fever virus in the Zika Forest of Uganda. At this time cell lines were not available for studying viruses, so serum from the febrile monkey was inoculated intracerebrally into mice. All the mice became sick, and the virus isolated from their bra...
Source: virology blog - January 28, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information Brazil congenital defect Dengue flavivirus Guillain-Barré microcephaly mosquito vaccine viral viruses yellow fever virus Zika zika virus Source Type: blogs
A couple of thoughts about Zika virus
Epidemics are scary, and often the fear is exaggerated and leads to all sorts of irrational behavior. All we need is to recall the lunacy over Ebola virus in 2014, which was never a significant threat to the United States. (Of course it was awful where it was epidemic, and the lack of sympathy here in the U.S. for people in the affected regions was at least as appalling as the misguided panic.) The flu pandemic hoax of 2010 was another excellent example.However, the WHO's alarm over Zika virus does seem proportionate. But this is a complicated story. The virus, which is related to Dengue, has never particularly concerned a...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 28, 2016 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Where did Zika virus come from and why is it a problem in Brazil?
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. (Source: The A and P Professor)
Source: The A and P Professor - January 27, 2016 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
Zika Virus
Nikos Vasilakis, Editor of the book Arboviruses: Molecular Biology, Evolution and Control was interviewed recently by The Guardian newspaper on the topic of Zika virus: "We're deeply concerned about the Zika starting a transmission cycle here in south Texas ... Not long ago, dengue and yellow fever were endemic in the area, [in] Houston, Galveston ... Both the climate conditions and human density exist to allow circulation of the virus." Further media coverage by Nikos Vasilakis includes: TRT World | NBC News | CBS News | Buzz Feed News | The Scientist | Scientific AmericanSuggested reading: Arboviruses: Molecular Biology...
Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. - January 26, 2016 Category: Microbiology Source Type: blogs
Will the Pharmaceutical Industry Learn From Past Mistakes?
By SOEREN MATTKE, MD
Awash in negative headlines, public condemnation and government scrutiny, the pharmaceutical industry faces a public relations problem that, left untreated, could bring new regulations or sanctions either from governments or the courts. At the same time, though, the recent scandals over price gouging could offer an opportunity for responsible, research-based companies to distance themselves from the profiteers.
The industry has come under fire at a time of unprecedented innovation. As a physician who trained in the 1990s, I am in awe of the recent breakthroughs. Immuno-oncology drugs like Keytruda (pem...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Simon Nath Tags: THCB Soeren Mattke Source Type: blogs
The dengue vaccine – an open letter to the MOH
(image credit: the MalayMail online)
There’s no doubt about it – the statistics are grim. Dengue has seen a steep rise in 2014 and even higher numbers were seen in 2015. Early on in 2016, we have to brace ourselves for a spike due to the El Nino effect
The Star reported the very grim data:
According to the ministry, 336 people – an average of 28 a month – died from dengue last year compared to 215 in 2014, a rise of 56.3%.
There was also an increase of 11.2% in the number of dengue cases throughout last year, up from 108,698 in 2014 to 120,836 cases.
That’s 333 cases a month or 110 cases each day!
The min...
Source: Malaysian Medical Resources - January 16, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: palmdoc Tags: - Nation dengue Vaccine Source Type: blogs
