Zika virus infection in semen: A call to action and research
It’s difficult to turn to any major media outlet without being confronted with the latest breaking information on Zika virus infection. The images of newborns from Brazil with excessively small heads are searing. To most of the U.S. population, the Zika virus epidemic in South and Central America is mainly a travel concern. But to the millions of people living in areas from the Caribbean to Central and South America, Zika virus has proven to be a devastating public health crisis.
Zika virus has the ability to cause severe neurologic disease in adults, and irreparable damage to an unborn baby’s developing brain and visi...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 28, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Chantel Washington, MD Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Source Type: blogs
Why America Needs Bioethics Right Now
by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
From the title, you probably assumed I’m going to talk about the fast changing pace of medical technology, whether we should be working on human embryos, claims that scientists will be able to do head transplants within 2 years, or even whether the Olympics should be postponed because of Zika. This blog has also paid attention to some of the orphan issues of bioethics: public health, social justice, health disparities, climate change and medicine in war, torture and guns.… (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - May 27, 2016 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Craig Klugman Tags: Clinical Ethics Featured Posts Politics civil discourse Source Type: blogs
The Zika Effect
Having worked on viruses for over 40 years, I know a fair number of people in the field, and I am amazed at how many of them have started to work on Zika virus. What exactly is attracting virologists to this emerging virus?
There are probably many reasons why Zika virus would be of interest to a research lab – what I call the Zika Effect – but here are what I think are the three main factors.
First, Zika virus has become medically important in the past year, as it has spread globally and is infecting many people each day. There are many unanswered questions about the virus, and for a scientist, there is noth...
Source: virology blog - May 26, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information funding grant laboratory publication research viral virus viruses Zika Diaries zika virus Source Type: blogs
Canada is looking better and better
O Canada!
In almost every election cycle people talk about moving to Canada if a presidential candidate they despise takes office. In practice few make the move. Things could be a little different this time around if a certain nationalist strongman comes to power.
There’s something else to fear this year: the Zika virus. According to NIH director Tony Fauci, mosquitoes with Zika are likely to arrive in the US mainland within the next month or two. One species will be all over the South, another will come up the East Coast as far as New England. Already, close to 300 pregnant women in the US are infected.
Congress...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 23, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Culture International Policy and politics Uncategorized Zika Source Type: blogs
TWiV 390: Building a better mosquito trap
Project Premonition, a Microsoft Research project that uses drones to capture mosquitoes and analyze them for pathogens, preprint servers, and three mouse models for Zika virus induced birth defects are the topics of episode #390 of the science show This Week in Virology.
You can find TWiV #390 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below.
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Download TWiV 390 (97 MB .mp3, 134 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email, Google Play Music (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - May 22, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology arbovirus bioRxive drone genome sequencing microcephaly mosquito mosquito trap mouse model preprint server Project Premonition RNAseq transcriptome viral viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
Virus Watch: Zika virus and microcephaly
Three papers have been published showing that Zika virus can cross the placenta in mice, replicate in the fetus, and cause microcephaly. In this video from Virus Watch I summarize these data and their implications. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - May 20, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Virus Watch fetal defects microcephaly mouse model viral virology viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
Science publishing has a Zika problem
Science publishing has a problem. I agree with Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman, who wrote that prestigious science journals like Cell, Nature, and Science – which he calls ‘luxury journals’ – are damaging science. The succession of articles on Zika virus nicely illustrates this problem.
The big three in science publishing – Science, Nature, and Cell – have published many papers on Zika virus since the beginning of 2016. Many of these have had a turnaround time of a week or two – the time between when the papers were submitted, and when they were published online. A rapid turnaround time is...
Source: virology blog - May 19, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Commentary Information cell luxury journal nature science science publishing viral virus viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
Zika virus crosses the placenta and causes microcephaly in mice
I am convinced that Zika virus causes microcephaly in humans, but it would be valuable to have an animal model to study how the virus crosses the placenta and damages the fetus. As with many questions about Zika virus, answers are coming very rapidly, and three different groups have now provided substantial insight into this problem.
When a Samoan isolate of Zika virus was injected into the brain of embryonic day 13.5 mice, the virus replicated mainly in neural progenitor cells, but also in many other brain cells (link to paper). At 5 days after infection, brain size was markedly reduced compared with uninfected litterm...
Source: virology blog - May 12, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information brain organic microcephaly mouse model neural progenitor cell placenta trophoblast viral virus viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
Virus Watch: Building Zika virus
The results of recent structural studies have given us the ability to display the structure of Zika virus and of the viral E protein bound to antibody. In this video from Virus Watch I explain how the Zika virus particle is built, and how it interacts with an antibody that blocks infection, in beautiful three dimensional imagery. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - May 11, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Virus Watch 3D structure antibody cryo-electron microscopy viral virology virus structure viruses X-ray crystallography zika virus Source Type: blogs
TWiV 388: What could possibly go wrong?
Preprint servers, the structure of an antibody bound to Zika virus, blocking Zika virus replication in mosquitoes with Wolbachia, and killing carp in Australia with a herpesvirus are topics of episode #388 of the science show This Week in Virology, hosted by Vincent, Dickson, Alan, and Kathy.
You can find TWiV #388 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below.
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Download TWiV 388 (73 MB .mp3, 101 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email, Google Play Music (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - May 8, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology aedes aegypti antibody biological control biorXiv carp Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 Koi koi herpesvirus mosquito myxomavirus preprint server rabbits viral viruses wolbachia zika virus Zika virus vaccine Source Type: blogs
The Latest Health Wonk Review
“For a long time, it seemed like the lead story on the Today show was the weather. More recently, it has been politics, and this week, things got even more interesting,” writes Brad Wright in his latest “Pivoting Towards the General Election” edition of this week’s Health Wonk Review on Wright on Health. Of some interesting posts, Wright mentions our very own blog post by Alexandra Phelan and Lawrence O. Gostin on why the U.S. gets a failing grade on Zika preparedness and response.
The next Health Wonk Review will be hosted by Tinker Ready over at Boston Health News on May 19. (Source: Health Affairs Blog)
Source: Health Affairs Blog - May 6, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Tracy Gnadinger Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Health Wonk Review Zika Source Type: blogs
Virus Watch, Zika Edition
Readers of virology blog know my fondness for the long form. Many appreciate an in-depth discussion of virology in a blog post, video, or podcast, but this format is not for everyone. I know that I have been missing many individuals who would like to know more about viruses, but do not have the time or interest to spend an hour or more a week doing so. For those individuals, I have started Virus Watch.
Virus Watch is a weekly video series that explores the amazing world of viruses. They will be short (less than 10 minutes), with clear animation and focused on one or two stories. I released the first episode this week, whic...
Source: virology blog - May 4, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information Virus Watch video viral viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
TWiV 387: Quaxxed
On episode #387 of the science show This Week in Virology, Nina Martin joins the TWiV team to talk about the movie Vaxxed, her bout with dengue fever, and the latest research on Zika virus.
You can find TWiV #387 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below.
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Download TWiV 387 (69 MB .mp3, 96 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email, Google Play Music (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - May 1, 2016 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology Andrew Wakefield antibody antibody dependent enhancement autism brain organoids measles microcephaly MMR mumps New World monkey reservoir rubella vaccine Vaxxed viral virus viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs
On Zika Preparedness And Response, The US Gets A Failing Grade
There are worrying signs that the United States is unprepared to contain a likely Zika virus outbreak this summer. The critical problems are: insufficient resources for mosquito control, surveillance, and health care; highly variable capabilities and quality of service among public health and mosquito abatement authorities; and weak legal powers to implement critical interventions.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reports that 35 countries and territories in the Americas have confirmed local, vector-borne transmission of Zika since 2015. In the US, local mosquito-borne transmission has been reported in Puerto Ri...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - April 28, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Alexandra Phelan and Lawrence O. Gostin Tags: Costs and Spending Equity and Disparities Featured Public Health CDC Congress outbreaks PAHO Prevention WHO Zika Zika virus Source Type: blogs
