User login
Language
Anonymous's groups in this site
User is not a member of any group.
Your groups across all your sites
User is not a member of any group.
Recent Content
Recent Comments
- WHO convening meeting to discuss Mpox status in Africa 1 week 3 days ago
- Writing is on the wall for the US at COP29 --BBC 1 week 4 days ago
- Update: Biden announced vaccine doses and cash for Africa 1 month 4 weeks ago
- Florida's new COVID booster guidance called misinformation 2 months 18 hours ago
Who's online
There are currently 0 users online.
You are here
Study Finds Multiple Problems In Fetuses Exposed To Zika Virus
Primary tabs
submitted by John Carroll
A woman who is six months pregnant shows a photo of her ultrasound at the IMIP hospital in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, on Wednesday. Scientists are trying to figure out how Zika virus may be affecting fetuses. Felipe Dana/AP
CLICK HERE - NEJM - Zika Virus Infection in Pregnant Women in Rio de Janeiro — Preliminary Report
npr.com - by Rob Stein - March 4, 2016
The Zika virus has sparked international alarm largely because of fears that the pathogen is causing microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads and damaged brains.
But the preliminary results of a study released Friday suggest Zika can also cause other potentially grave complications for fetuses carried by women who get infected while they are pregnant.
"There seems to be a whole spectrum of conditions that are related to this — not only microcephaly," says Karin Nielsen-Saines, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA who led the study.
ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE - New findings point to Zika as the culprit behind babies’ brain damage
Comments
Zika caught 'killing' brain cells
CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Cell Stem Cell - Zika Virus Infects Human Cortical Neural Progenitors and Attenuates Their Growth
bbc.com - by James Gallagher - March 4, 2016
Zika virus kills the type of tissue found in the developing brain, researchers have shown.
It was able to destroy or disrupt the growth of neural progenitor cells, which build the brain and nervous system, in lab tests.
The discovery, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, adds weight to claims that Zika is causing brain abnormalities in babies.
However, the US researchers caution this is not yet the conclusive link.
(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)
Zika virus impairs growth in human neurospheres, brain organoids
peerj.com - March 4, 2016
Abstract
Since the emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV), reports of microcephaly have increased dramatically in Brazil; however, causality between the widespread epidemic and malformations in fetal brains has not been confirmed. Here, we examine the effects of ZIKV infection in human neural stem cells growing as neurospheres and cerebral organoids. Using immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy, we show that ZIKV targets human brain cells, reducing their viability and growth as neurospheres and cerebral organoids. These results suggest that ZIKV abrogates neurogenesis during human brain development.
Garcez PP, Loiola EC, Madeiro da Costa RF, Higa L, Trindade P, Delvecchio R, Nascimento JM, Brindeiro RM, Tanuri A, Rehen SK. (2016) Zika virus impairs growth in human neurospheres and brain organoids. PeerJ Preprints 4:e1817v2 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1817v2
Study Supports Zika Link to Microcephaly
theguardian.com - by Sarah Boseley - March 15, 2016
CLICK HERE - STUDY - Association between Zika virus and microcephaly in French Polynesia, 2013–15: a retrospective study
Lancet study that analysed 2013-14 French Polynesia outbreak finds more evidence of link between virus and birth defect
About one in 100 women infected by the Zika virus in early pregnancy may be at risk of having a baby with microcephaly, according to a new study of an epidemic that occurred in French Polynesia.
The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, offers further evidence that the virus is implicated in microcephaly – a condition in which babies’ brains do not develop properly, resulting in abnormally small heads.
“Our analysis strongly supports the hypothesis that Zika virus infection during the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of microcephaly,” says Dr Simon Cauchemez, co-author of the study from the Institut Pasteur in Paris. “We estimated that the risk of microcephaly was 1 in 100 women infected with Zika virus during the first trimester of pregnancy. The findings are from the 2013-14 outbreak in French Polynesia and it remains to be seen whether our findings apply to other countries in the same way.”
(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)