Category: Zika virus

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Health Zika virus

Zika Virus Linked to Rare Immune System Disorder in Adults

Vice News reports that in January, Colombia saw an unusual increase in cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare disorder where a person’s immune system attacks the nervous system, in some cases temporarily paralyzing the body and requiring hospitalization.

As in neighboring Brazil and Venezuela, the uptick in Colombia happened at the same time as a local Zika outbreak, leading experts to begin searching for a connection. Researchers have since rushed to find out more, and a new report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine outlines the most compelling evidence to date linking the mosquito-borne virus to the debilitating disorder.

The study analyzed 68 patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome this year at six Colombian hospitals. Researchers determined the presence of Zika infection in those patients offered enough evidence to support the idea that the virus sparks the onset of the syndrome.

“The fact that we found Zika infection in those patients is good evidence that Zika may contribute to development of the disease,” said Beatriz Parra, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at Universidad del Valle in Colombia. As she explained, the evidence strongly supports a link between Zika and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

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Health Politics Zika virus

First Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus from Woman to Man Reported in New York

Although the Zika virus is mainly transmitted from mosquitoes to human, sexual transmissions from men to women or between two men have also been documented. But in New York, there is a confirmed transmission of Zika from a woman to a man.

This is a first.

“This represents the first reported occurrence of female-to-male sexual transmission of Zika virus,” said a report issued on Friday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The evidence of a previously undocumented transmission means is the latest twist in a viral outbreak that continues to baffle and surprise leading experts. It is prompting officials to rethink, once again, the guidance for health care providers and the general public on how to limit the danger of infection, as the pool of those who could be at risk widens.

Much about how the virus works is a mystery, and it remains challenging to detect; 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms. For those who do get sick, the illness is often mild, and there is no treatment.

But Zika can pose a dire risk to pregnant women. It targets developing nerve cells in fetuses and can lead to a birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brain damage. It may also cause developmental problems after birth.

Zika is primarily transmitted by the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which thrives in warm, tropical climates. But 11 countries have documented cases of sexual transmission from a man to a woman. Among the 1,130 people who have received a Zika diagnosis in the continental United States, including 320 pregnant women, the C.D.C. has reported 15 cases of sexual transmission.

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Health Zika virus

Confirmed: Pregnant Connecticut Teen has Zika Virus

A pregnant Connecticut teen has tested positive for Zika, a mosquito-borne virus linked to devastating birth defects, the Daily News reports.

Sara Mujica, who visited her fiancé in Honduras in March, said she thought her symptoms — rashes, headaches and neck aches — were related to fish she had eaten. But test results last week showed the 17-year-old had Zika, which has become an epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“I was in a state of shock honestly,” Mujica said. “I didn’t really know what to say. I didn’t know what to do. I just started getting teary eyed and almost crying. I was just trying to stay strong.”

Mujica said she learned she was pregnant while she was on the March trip to Honduras.

Around the time she took the pregnancy test, she started feeling ill. When she returned to Danbury, she decided to get tested for Zika. An outbreak of the virus has struck countries from Mexico to Paraguay — including Honduras — in recent months.

Zika can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brain damage. Researchers don’t yet know the rate at which infected women have babies with birth defects.

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