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An international team of scientists have reported an effective and environmentally sustainable way to block the transmission of mosquito-borne dengue virus, in trials carried out in Malaysia. The breakthrough has major implications for countries with hot climates such as island nations in the South Pacific to Saudi Arabia, Africa and South America, all of which experience dengue, Zika, yellow fever […]
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Zika virus infection in the womb produces altered immune responses and sex-specific brain abnormalities in apparently healthy pig offspring, according to a study published november 14 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Uladzimir Karniychuk of the University of Saskatchewan, and colleagues. As noted by the authors, the findings could point to new strategies to prevent and alleviate the long-term […]
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A new study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine revealed how in utero Zika virus infection can lead to microcephaly in newborns. The team discovered that the Zika virus protein NS4A disrupts brain growth by hijacking a pathway that regulates the generation of new neurons. The findings point at the possibility of developing therapeutic strategies to prevent microcephaly […]
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Scientists at the KU Leuven Rega Institute in Belgium have developed a new vaccine against the Zika virus. This vaccine should prevent the virus from causing microcephaly and other serious conditions in unborn babies. In 2015 and 2016, the world was shocked by the sudden and massive outbreak of the Zika virus in Latin America. “The Zika virus is transmitted […]
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As Prince Harry and his expectant wife Meghan prepare to tour Fiji and Tonga next week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the risk of contracting Zika virus in the Pacific nations is low. The British royals, currently in Australia, arranged their trip before Meghan’s pregnancy was known, sparking fears she and her unborn baby could be vulnerable in […]
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(HealthDay)—Interim guidance recommends that men with possible Zika virus infection wait three months before trying to conceive or engaging in unprotected sex, according to research published in the Aug. 10 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Kara D. Polen, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues updated interim guidance for […]
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Rhesus macaque monkeys infected in utero with Zika virus develop similar brain pathology to human infants, according to a report by researchers at the California National Primate Research Center and School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, published June 20 in Nature Communications. Rhesus macaques may be a suitable model system to study how Zika virus infection […]
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Zika virus is an arbovirus transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but it can also be transmitted by sexual contact and blood transfusion. Adult patients infected by Zika usually present only mild symptoms over a few days, such as rashes, conjunctivitis, arthralgia and mild fever. However, the outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil in 2015 first showed the world that […]
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(HealthDay)—Screening blood donations for Zika virus (ZIKV) in the United States is costly with low yield, according to a study published in the May 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Paula Saá, Ph.D. from the American Red Cross in Gaithersburg, Md., and colleagues implemented investigational screening of donated blood for ZIKV RNA with transcription-mediated amplification (TMA). Repeat […]
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Identifying dengue fever “hot spots” can provide a predictive map for outbreaks of chikungunya and Zika—two other viral diseases that, along with dengue, are spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases published the findings, the first confirmation of the spatial-temporal overlap for outbreaks of the three diseases, led by Emory University. “We had hypothesized that we would […]
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