Showing posts with label zika virus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zika virus. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2016

The untreatable Zika virus has been declared an international public health emergency

Zika mosquito
There's a new virus called Zika spreading in South America, and on Monday it was declared a "public health emergency of international concern" by the World Health Organization, officially establishing it as a serious threat.
Zika, which has no cure, has been documented in the United States, but only among travelers. And itmay be linked with two more serious complications:
  • A dangerous birth defect known as microcephaly
  • A rare but often temporary disorder where the immune system attacks its own nerve cells
Here's a rundown of the good and bad news about the virus.
First, the good news: Zika israrely fatal (no deaths have yet been documented in people with Zika virus and no other illnesses). Symptoms of the virus are similar to those of a cold or fever.
And the bad news: It may be linked with a dangerous birth defect known as microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads. The CDC is also working to determine if there may be a link between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder where your immune system attacks itself, damaging the nerve cells and leading to muscle weakness and occassionally paralysis. In general, symptoms of GBS last anywhere from several weeks to a few months. Most people fully recover, but others may have permanent damage. In rare cases, it can be fatal.

Big Question: Was Zika outbreak caused by release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil?


Dr. Angela Rocha examines Ludmilla Hadassa Dias de Vasconcelos
Birth defect:  Zika  caused by genetically-modified mosquitoes?

The Zika virus outbreak currently gripping the Americas could have been sparked by the release of genetically modified mosquitoes in 2012, critics say.
The insects were engineered by biotechnology experts to combat the spread of dengue fever and other diseases and released into the general population of Brazil in 2012.
But with the World Health Organisation(WHO) now meeting in Geneva to desperately discuss cures for the Zika virus, speculation has mounted as to the cause of this sudden outbreak.
The Zika virus was first discovered in the 1950s but the recent outbreak has escalated alarmingly, causing birth defects and a range of health problems in South and central America.
The first cases were reported in Brazil last May with up to 1.5 million now thought people affected by the virus which is spread by mosquitoes endemic to Latin America.

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