Zika virus 'scarier than we first thought', US officials declare

[Batu69]

Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of National Institutes of Health (NIH)

 

The more researchers learn about the Zika virus, the scarier it appears, US health officials said on Monday as they urged more money for mosquito control and for developing vaccines and treatments.

 

Scientists increasingly believe the Zika virus sweeping through Latin America and the Caribbean causes devastating defects in fetal brains if women become infected during pregnancy.

 

"Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought," Dr Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a White House briefing.

 

And while experts do not expect widespread outbreaks in the continental US, "we absolutely need to be ready," she said.

 

President Barack Obama has sought about $1.9 billion in emergency money to help fight the Zika epidemic internationally and to prepare in case the virus spreads in the US, but the request has stalled in the Republican-controlled Congress. Last week, the administration said it would use $589 million in funds left over from the Ebola outbreak for some of that work.

 

But that "is not enough for us to get the job done," said Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, whose agency hopes to have a possible vaccine ready for first-stage safety testing in early fall. "It's just a temporary stopgap."

 

Reports from Brazil over the last year have said infections in pregnant women have been strongly linked to babies born with unusually small heads, a birth defect called microcephaly that can signal underlying brain damage.

 

"I'm not an alarmist," Fauci said, but he and Schuchat cited growing reason for concern about Zika:

• Researchers also have linked Zika to stillbirths, miscarriages, eye problems and other complications, with complications throughout pregnancy.
• Brazilian researchers reported on Sunday that Zika preferentially targets developing brain cells. They used stem cells to study embryonic brain development and reported in the journal Science that virus taken from a Brazilian patient destroyed the growing neural cells in a few days.
• There's evidence that some adults occasionally may suffer serious effects from Zika. Researchers already were studying whether Guillain-Barre syndrome, a nerve condition that can cause paralysis, is linked to Zika.
• And on Sunday, another Brazilian research team reported two Zika patients who suffered yet another problem, a brain inflammation that damages the coating of nerve cells in a way similar to multiple sclerosis.

In addition to research into a possible vaccine, Fauci said the NIH is screening medications in the quest for a treatment. A few - 15 of 62 screened so far - show some degree of possible activity against Zika in laboratory tests although "that doesn't mean they're going to turn out to be good drugs," he cautioned.

 

The CDC has warned women who are pregnant or attempting to conceive to avoid travel to Zika-affected areas. Because Zika sometimes spreads through sexual intercourse, the CDC also says men who've traveled to Zika-affected areas either should use condoms with their pregnant partners or avoid sex until the baby's born.

 

More than 300 travel-associated cases of Zika have been reported in the US so far. While the CDC does expect some clusters of homegrown Zika to occur, it is working with state and local governments to boost mosquito control.

 

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[humble3d]

I tried to warn people to no avail...

Prevention is usually better than a cure... 

[RejZoR]

With all the genetic engineering we have and they can't figure out how to make mosquitoes become incapable to breed and die out. Also, wasn't Brazil dusting with a pesticide that pooled the Zika virus for decades and they stopped it because of potential health problems? Those were "potential" health problems. We know Zika virus HAS a devastating effect on children. Far more than the pesticides they used. So why aren't they using them again!?

[Jogs]

Every few years or so a new disease surfaces and Drug makers make huge money from the drugs they sell to stop that disease.  
 

[dMog]

5 hours ago, RejZoR said:

With all the genetic engineering we have and they can't figure out how to make mosquitoes become incapable to breed and die out. Also, wasn't Brazil dusting with a pesticide that pooled the Zika virus for decades and they stopped it because of potential health problems? Those were "potential" health problems. We know Zika virus HAS a devastating effect on children. Far more than the pesticides they used. So why aren't they using them again!?

there far better ways to get rid of the little biters than indiscriminate use of pesticides

google it ...and most of all.... the countries most affected have no money to do so.... this in not talking about any areas easily accessed and small enough to do something fast enough to make a difference. 

[Pequi]

On quarta-feira, 13 de abril de 2016 at 2:33 AM, RejZoR said:

With all the genetic engineering we have and they can't figure out how to make mosquitoes become incapable to breed and die out. Also, wasn't Brazil dusting with a pesticide that pooled the Zika virus for decades and they stopped it because of potential health problems? Those were "potential" health problems. We know Zika virus HAS a devastating effect on children. Far more than the pesticides they used. So why aren't they using them again!?

We have been using genetically altered male Aedes mosquitoes for years. They cross with the females, and produce infertile offspring. But that only reduces the number, as there are just as many healthy males in the wild.

The Aedes can reproduce in any collection of water, even in plants, and the eggs can withstand drought for months. There is NO way you can kill them all with pesticides without killing all the insects in the country, which would be an ecological disaster. Imagine a country without bees and moths and butterflies and other pollinating insects....

I'm bitten at least 4-6 times a day. I keep my garden clear of tin cans and rubbish that can accumulate water, but the female flies up to 200 meters to bite. Imagine a country with around 100 million people that are potential "Trump voters". How TF do you expect the government to educate them all ?

I'm afraid it's a "live with it" situation. I caught zica once, and dengue fever twice. And I'm a retired doctor, specialized in .... infectious diseases.

As to being a possible bio-weapon gone wrong, it's interesting that Harrison's Infectious Diseases 2010 (a standard textbook) does not mention Zica at all.